After the War: Harry and Hermione
by Mattelle
Summary: Harry and Hermione discover they love each other. Tonks and Sirius live. Ron is jealous. Neville, Luna, Harry and Hermione help rebuild their world. This is how they do it
1. Chapter 1

**A/N I am reloading the corrected chapters 1-12. Then I will start updating again weekly. Nothing has changed but grammar and spelling. The grammar-Nazi in me wants to get everything right before continuing. Thanks for reading and reviewing.**

**Ch. 1**

**Saturday 2 May 1998**

Harry opened his eyes and groaned. His whole body ached and he groggily wondered why, then he remembered. Last night he had battled Voldemort to the death—and won. Voldemort was dead. It was truly over. He could relax. As he got off the floor where he'd been sleeping, he looked over to see his best friend and, what he had realised last night just before he died was, the love of his life, curled up in his bed. Looking around, he was surprised to find that none of his roommates were in their beds.

Last night, after the final battle, Mione and he left the dead and mourning in the Great Hall and went to Gryffindor Tower to sleep. They had been awake for more than 48 hours and were shattered. As they left, they saw the Weasley family gathered around the dead body of Charlie. They saw Tonks and Sirius sitting there holding Remus' dead hands, tears coursing down both their faces. They walked past the dead body of Colin Creevey. So much loss, so much pain, he thought as he continued rummaging for clean clothes in Hermione's little bag.

"Harry just summon it, you're a wizard." Hermione smiled as he jumped a bit at realizing she was up.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you." He apologized as he summoned clean clothes.

"You didn't." She assured him as she got out of bed

"So you and Ron?" He asked as his heart sunk.

"No. I don't think so." She smiled at Harry as she let herself believe, for the first time since the ride on Buckbeak, that he might care for her the same way she did him.

"But I saw you kissing!" He replied.

She decided to be completely honest with him, even if she lost his

friendship, because seeing his dead body being brought back by Hagrid tore her to shreds. It was in that moment of clarity that she realised that it was always Harry. It would always be Harry, no matter how long she lived, she'd always love him.

Ron was just a way to bury her feelings so she didn't lose him as a friend. "Yes we did. But I don't love him." She sat down on the bed and patted it so

he'd sit next to her. She took his face in her hands as she looked him in the eyes. "I love you Harry. More than you'll ever know. I've loved you for a long time but I was scared. Ron was safe so I pushed myself to like him instead. If I lost you as a friend, I'd be heartbroken. It's okay if you don't love me. We can still be best friends. I know I'm not pretty like Ginny or Cho but I needed to tell you—for my own piece of mind." She got out in one breath like she did when she was excited. It was one of the cute things she did that made him love her.

He put his finger over her lips. "Sssshhhh. I love you too, my Mione. I think I always have but was too afraid to lose your friendship as well. And I think you're beautiful so I'd appreciate you not denigrating my girlfriend." He smiled at the look of happiness that came to her face. The next thing he knew, he'd been pushed down on the bed and was receiving the best kiss of his life. As his brain finally engaged, he kissed her back with all the love he had.

There was a knock on the door and Harry and Hermione jumped apart as Sirius came in. Looking at how close they were sitting, he said with a small grin, "So Remus and I were right, you two are a couple."

"Now we are." Hermione answered as she went to Sirius who was sitting on a bed. She put her arms around Sirius. "How are you doing Sirius?"

"I'm fine." He said quietly.

"Yeah right." She responded sarcastically. "Tell me how you _really_ are."

"My 2 best friends are dead. How am I supposed to be? Teddy is without a father. How am I supposed to be? I can't believe he's gone" Sirius choked out as he started to cry. Both Harry and Hermione wrapped Sirius in their arms until he was done. He looked up at them sheepishly. "Thanks guys. I needed that. We have to be here for Tonks and Teddy." He took a deep breath and became business-like as he stood. "You two need to take showers and get dressed, there's a lot to do today. Meet me down in the common room in 30." He said as he left.

They looked at each other and smiled shyly. "We probably shouldn't tell anyone about us before I tell Ron." Hermione sighed.

"Yeah. I'm a little nervous about his reaction. I'm a little worried that we'll lose him as a friend but after abandoning us on the hunt, I'm not really happy with him right now." He scowled at the memory.

"Why don't you take a shower while I organise this?" she waved a hand at the bag she always carried.

"Sure." He replied getting up as he kissed her forehead and went to the shower.

After taking a nice, long, very hot shower, he got out to shave and get dressed. He walked out and she kissed him before she walked to the showers. "Be back in a few." She said.

About 20 minutes later they walked downstairs to see Sirius and the Weasleys all sitting around. "Ron, can I talk to you?" Hermione asked, gesturing to a quiet corner.

"Yeah." He got up and followed her.

She took a breath and let it out slowly, seriously afraid she'd lose him as a friend in the next few minutes. "Ron, I think we need to clear the air." She began, sitting down on a chair.

"Why? We kissed last night, isn't that great?" He sat down on the arm of her chair and took her hand.

"That's what we need to talk about. I really like you Ron. And for the longest time I thought I loved you but last night when I saw Harry's dead body coming out of the forest, I realized that it was him I truly loved. It's not that I don't love you Ron but as a brother, not the man I want to spend the rest of my life with." She said in a rapid-fire breath.

HP

As Harry and Hermione separated, Hermione to talk to Ron and Harry to talk to the Weasley's and Sirius, Harry was a little apprehensive about the Weasley family's reaction. He sat down and noticed Ginny curled up on Dean's lap crying. _Well, at least she's not waiting for me,_ he thought.

He looked over at Fred and George who both had puffy eyes from crying. "I'm sorry about Charlie, guys." Harry said somberly.

"Thanks, mate" George replied. "It means a lot that you care with everyone you lost."

"I guess it hasn't really hit me yet. If there's anything your family needs, just let me know."

"Harry," Arthur spoke up. "Could you be a pall bearer for Charlie? We don't have enough children and I know I can't do it." Arthur's voice was a whisper as he ended.

"Of course Arthur. I'd be honored to. If you need anything, all you have to do is ask." He stood up and gave Arthur a hug. He looked down at a clearly devastated Molly, sat down next to her and let her cry. It was the least he could do for the woman he'd grown to love over the last years.

It was as he was murmuring nonsense to Molly that everyone in Gryffindor Tower heard Ron yell, "SO I'M JUST A SUBSTITUTE FOR HARRY! HE GETS EVERYTHING, FAME, MONEY AND NOW MY GIRLFRIEND! THAT'S JUST GREAT. I HOPE YOU HAVE A GREAT LIFE."

Arthur stood up and in just a few strides was next to Ron. He grabbed ahold of Ron's hand which looked like it was about to hit Hermione. "How dare you Ronald." Arthur said in that low, deadly voice that each Weasley child knew to fear. Arthur was usually a very genial, low key man; however, when he was truly angry his voice took on a tone that had every Weasley cringe. Arthur pulled Ron's arm behind his back and turned him toward Arthur rather than Hermione. Arthur noticed that Harry had moved Hermione away from Ron but was furious. "I can't believe you were about to hit a woman. Have I taught you no better than that?!"

"Dad! She kissed me last night and now says she's in love with Harry!" Ron yelled petulantly.

"So that gives you the right to hit her? No Ronald that does not. I can't believe a son of mine would even think of such a thing." He took a deep breath and counted to ten. "Ronald, go back to the Burrow while we get Charlie's body for burial." Arthur said pointing to the portrait hole. Ron turned on his heel and gave Harry a dirty look as he left.

As everyone in the common room watched Arthur reprimand his youngest son, Harry took Hermione in his arms and let her cry. "I can't believe he almost hit me." Hermione whispered as she stopped crying. "We've lost him Harry. There's no coming back from that for me." She looked at Harry apologetically.

"Don't apologise Mione. He's lost me as well. I just don't want to loose the Weasley's too."

"You haven't Harry." Bill said from behind him. "You're our brother too so, even if Ron's being an arse, you're welcome at the Burrow or Shell Cottage any time."

"Yes Harry." Molly stood up and took one of his hands. "I've already lost one son today, I'll not lose another."

"Thanks Mrs. Weasley."

"That goes for you too Hermione." Hermione smiled her thanks.

"Sorry to butt in" Sirius said, "But we need to go see McGonagall, Harry and Hermione."

"Sure Sirius." Harry turned to the Weasley's. "Please let me know when you need me for the funeral—that is if you still do."

"Of course, we do." Percy answered for everyone. Harry gave Molly another hug before they started up to the Headmaster's office. Sirius turned into Padfoot as they left.

"I guess, technically, you're still a fugitive so it's safer if you walk around as Padfoot, eh?" Harry smiled down at his Godfather. "We've got to get you released from that. Maybe with a new Minister we'll be able to do that."

"I wonder who the new Minister will be?" Hermione asked. "Merlin, I hope it's someone that isn't corrupt." She muttered as she opened the door to the Headmaster's office. There, sitting next to the fire, were Minerva and Kingsley. Padfoot became Sirius.

"Well, I certainly hope so too Miss Granger as he is me." Kingsley laughed as he stood up to shake the three newcomers' hands.

"That's brilliant!" Harry smiled hugely. "Congrats Kingsley! Couldn't have gotten anyone better!"

"Thank you, Harry. That means a great deal." Kingsley said seriously. "Please have a seat everyone. Tea?" They nodded and sat down as Tea and biscuits were brought in. "We have a few things to discuss with all of you."

"Will you two be returning to school next year to finish your NEWTs?" McGonagall asked.

"Are you the new Headmistress?" Harry asked. "Or are they going to appoint some ministry flunky?" At this Kingsley laughed heartily.

"We have no designs on Hogwarts, Harry." Kingsley answered after he stopped laughing.

Harry and Hermione looked at each other, only communicating with raised eyebrows and hand gestures. At this Sirius couldn't help looking at Minerva and asking, "Their behavior remind you of someone?" before he started giggling.

"Yes Sirius." Minerva said before she too started giggling. As Harry and Hermione continued 'talking' in this manner, Sirius and Minerva went from giggling to outright laughter.

"Mind filling me in?" Kingsley snarked.

"Jamie and Lily used to do the same thing." Sirius answered as he tried to stop laughing. "It made them great while on missions for the Order but drove us mental any other time they did it."

"Oh." Was Kingsley's reply.

As the room quieted, Harry stated. "Yes Headmistress, we will be here next year. We really don't want to be apart and we'll need our NEWTs for employment."

"Great. That makes some decisions easier." Minerva muttered.

"We also need to talk about your freedom Sirius." Kingsley began as he conjured a piece of parchment. "Here is a Pardon signed by myself and Chief Witch Marchbanks." He handed it to Sirius. "I submitted my memories of you fighting in the DOM and here last night. We also found Dumbledore's memories of you telling him what happened in Harry's third year in Fudge's office. It seems he tried to talk Fudge into giving you a trial but Fudge refused. Bloody bastard."

"That's great Kingsley. Thanks." Harry said as Hermione bent down in front of Sirius as he just stared at the parchment, stunned.

"Sirius, this means you can come out of hiding." She prompted softly.

"Yes. But I never thought it would happen. Now it has and I don't know what to do." He whispered as he looked at Hermione.

"Well, we'll figure that out as a family." Harry confirmed.

"Sirius, I would like to talk to you about the Wizengamot." Kingsley stated.

"What about it?"

"Well, you and Harry both hold seats in that body. As a lot of those seats will be disqualified because the Head of House has the Dark Mark, we need as many light families to take up their seats as possible. Are you and Harry willing to?"

"You want me to be a politician?" He shrieked as he looked around like a caged animal.

"Yes, Sirius. We need people who understand how the purebloods think but won't act like them. You're the only name I can come up with."

"Oh bloody hell." Sirius whispered before he said resignedly, "Fine. But Harry you're joining me. I'm not doing this alone."

"I have no idea what I'd be doing." Harry warned frantically.

"We'll figure it out love." Hermione whispered.

"I'll use this summer to train you, maybe bring your friend Neville in too, he's about to be Head of House and have a seat on Wizengamot." Everyone could see that Sirius was deep in thought.

"Kingsley, do you need us for anything else? We need to find Tonks and help her with arrangements for Remus." Harry stood.

"No. You can probably find her in one of the chambers off the Great Hall where the bodies are." He looked at his watch. "Lunch will be served in 20 minutes." He replied as a way of dismissal.

The three new family members left Kingsley and Minerva. As they walked down the stairs, Hermione took charge. "Let's go find Tonks and get her to eat something. Where have she and Remus been living all this time?" She wondered.

"With me at Grimmauld. Her parents don't have the room and Grimmauld is safe." Sirius stated, coming out of his planning.

"So where was Teddy born?" Harry asked.

"At Grimmauld. It was strange watching another birth. I never thought I'd see one after yours." Sirius grinned. "Teddy's was as much a mess as yours." As he said this, they walked into a room of bodies and spotted Tonks next to one. She was sitting on the floor next to Remus, just holding his hand and crying.

Harry went to her and sat across from her to take Remus' other hand. "He was an amazing man and would have been an even better father. I can't imagine how you feel because I can't imagine Remus not in my life." He looked over at Tonks as she just nodded.

"I've been sitting with him ever since the battle was won and I still can't comprehend that he's not coming back. It felt as though it took forever for us to get together and now, he's dead and I have no idea where to go." She looked up at Harry with dead eyes.

"You come back to Grimmauld and we raise Teddy as Rem wanted us to. As a family Dora. You, me, Harry and Hermione if she's willing." Sirius stated firmly.

"Of course, I'm willing." Hermione cut in. "Although why don't we find a house that's more conducive to kid raising? You never know, maybe Harry and I'll have a kid of our own someday." She smiled as Harry blushed.

"Sounds great." Harry and Sirius agreed.

"Come on Dora, let's eat and pick up Teddy. Where is he?" Hermione took her hand and helped her up.

"With my mum but I've got to go get him."

"Alright. After we eat." Hermione said as she sat down at the table.

HP

After lunch, everyone floo'd to the Tonks' residence to find the newest member of the family. As Harry stumbled out of the floo, he heard what sounded like screaming from a banshee coming from the kitchen. He hurriedly entered the kitchen to see Sirius holding a bundle in his arms while Tonks was sitting at the table doing something he couldn't see with her shirt.

"Sirius, hand him here please." She yelled over her son. Sirius handed him over in a fluid motion Harry hadn't believed Sirius could manage. Soon, the house was quiet as Harry assumed his godson was eating. He daren't look because he might see something he didn't want to.

"So, how is everyone doing?" Andromeda asked hesitantly.

"Look at your daughter Andi." Sirius said sharply. "Does she look like she's doing okay?"

"Sirius. Peace." Hermione put her hand on his arm. "She's just concerned."

Andi came over to Sirius and hugged him. "I'm sorry, Sirius. I know you must have had a horrendous twenty-four hours. I know how close you three were. If you need to talk, I'm here."

"Sorry Andi." Sirius looked sheepishly at her.

"Is Voldemort really dead?"

"Yes, he is." Harry confirmed. "I killed him."

They fell into silence as Tonks finished feeding Teddy. She situated a burp cloth on Harry's shoulder, settled Teddy in his arms and said, "You better burp your godson." as she smiled at the bewildered look on his face. She began to pack the nappy bag as Hermione showed Harry how to coax a burp.

"Harry, you have to pat him harder than that." She scoffed. "It won't hurt him."

"He's so small. I'm afraid I'll break him." He whispered back.

"You won't. He's a hardy kid." Tonks added as she came back in as Teddy belched loudly. "There ya go little one." Tonks cooed as she took Teddy out of Harry's arm

"Wait!" Harry whined. "I just got used to him, now I can't hold him?"

"Harry, I've seen you floo. You are NEVER allowed to floo with him. You'll drop him or smash him or something." She smiled as Harry pouted and the others laughed. Tonks turned to her parents. "Thanks for taking care of him, mum and dad. I'll see you in a few days."

With that, the newly forming family floo'd to Grimmauld Place. "Where are we sleeping?" Harry asked Sirius as he got his balance.

"Well, you, Hermione and I are all on the third floor. I'm in the Master as I didn't want my old room back—too many bad memories. There are five other bedrooms with baths for you to choose from. Rem, To—I mean Tonks and Teddy have the fourth floor to themselves."

"I'm going to put Teddy in the nursery. Where will you be Cuz?" Tonks asked.

"I'll be in the study. Come down after everybody settles in. We need to have a family meeting as soon as possible." Sirius stated in a firm voice.

"Okay." Everyone agreed as they went to their respective floors. Harry and Hermione found two rooms next to each other. One was decked out in Hermione's favorite color, purple. One decked out in Harry's favorite, blue.

"Seems as though Sirius did the decorating with us in mind." Hermione smiled as she came from her room into Harry's.

"Yeah. I think he wanted us to move in with him after the war and was ready. Although I'd prefer not to live here, I'm glad I have a home to go to." He smiled as he took her hand as they walked downstairs to the study.

Sirius was sitting behind the large, ornate, oak desk in the center of the room. There was a fireplace to the left of the door with couches around it. It also had a toy box in the corner. Obviously, Sirius spent time in here with Teddy.

Harry was starting to notice an anxious, tense and possessive feeling when it came to Sirius and Teddy. Was he actually jealous that Sirius got to spend time with _his_ godson? _I'll talk to Hermione about that later,_ he thought as he saw Tonks come in and sit down next to them on the couches. She pulled out her wand and sat it on the occasional table between them and the fire.

"Why are you putting your wand there?" Harry asked curiously.

"I'll hear Teddy cry if he wakes up."

"A spell?" Hermione asked.

"Yep." Tonks replied as Sirius came over with a bunch of parchment in his hands.

"I found Rem's will." Sirius began, waving the parchment. "It leaves everything to Tonks of course but it isn't much. However, it does specify to be buried in Godric's Hollow near the James and Lily. I guess he already bought the plots, is that right Tonks?"

"Yeah. We did it right after Christmas. The service will be held at the funeral home there but I have to talk with them." As she said this, he went rifling through the papers again.

"Here it is. We'll go in a while, yeah Dora?"

"Sure Sirius." She responded quietly as tears ran down her face.

"Another thing Dora. I'd like to bring you and Teddy back into the Black family. I've talked to your mum and she wants to come back too. Is that okay?" Sirius asked softly.

"What would it mean?" Tonks asked.

"It means that Teddy would eventually become Lord Black. After Harry and I both die. Unless he kills us, then he's disqualified." Everyone chuckled at that.

"That's fine I guess." Tonks agreed.

"As to this house, I'd like to sell it and get one out in the countryside if that's okay with everyone. And I'd like to do it soon."

"My parents still own their house in East Grinstead near Crawley. Maybe you could move there. We own several acres on our lot. That's common around there." Hermione suggested. "I need to get my parents from Australia soon too."

"Yes, we'll get portkeys and go find them after most of the funerals. I'm thinking maybe Friday or Saturday."

"You'll come with me?" Hermione asked hopefully. She had thought she'd have to do that alone.

"Of course. How many times do I owe you my life? The least I can do is help you find your parents." Sirius just shook his head at the idea that he wouldn't help. "We are all going to have to get formal robes tomorrow morning for these funerals. Harry, you and I need to be fit for our Wizengamot robes because I'm sure we'll have to be there at least on Tuesday or Wednesday to take up our roles."

"I didn't know that I even had a seat on Wizengamot." Harry muttered.

"I wasn't allowed to tell you until you turned 17 and by then it didn't matter—the war was going full blast."

"Who kept you from telling me?" Harry asked, afraid he knew the answer.

"Dumbledore. He didn't want you bothered and I saw how you dealt with your own trial. You would've been even more upset than you were. I thought we were doing what was right." He looked a little nervous at Harry's reaction.

"That's okay Sirius. Do I wish I'd known? Yeah. But it's done now. The problem is, I have no idea how it works." He sighed.

"Well I do. I learned at my father's knee. You will be shadowing me and watching how it works. Once you've learned what you need, you'll start leading any alliance we make in the meantime."

Harry looked at Hermione, "I'm gonna need your help love." He gave her the lopsided grin she loved.

"Of course." She smiled.

"Oh Merlin. Kreature died a few month ago, so I was wondering if you could hire that elf that tried to break your arm a few years ago." Sirius grinned.

"Sure, Sirius but we're going to have to pay him." Harry laughed at the look on Hermione's face.

"Of course, of course." He smiled at Hermione. She was such an amazing girl. _Why do all the Potter men get the good ones? _Sirius wondered. "Well, we ought to take off for the funeral home. Can you two watch Teddy?" Sirius asked.

"Sure, but we'll need some directions." Harry retorted. Tonks then gave them both directions about what to do when Teddy woke up. She showed them where everything was and showed Harry how to do the baby monitor charm.

Tonks looked a little worried about leaving her son with two newbies. "Remember Harry. Please don't floo with him. If you have to floo, have Hermione do it."

"Okay, okay." Harry grumbled good naturedly as they floo'd away. They went into the library and sat down. Harry laid down and put his head in his girlfriend's lap. After a few minutes of silence, Harry sat up and looked at Hermione. Her head was laying back on the divan with her eyes closed. As he sat up, one of her eyes opened.

"What's wrong Harry?"

"We should call Dobby and offer him the job." He replied hesitantly. He didn't want to upset her and it showed on his face. She put those fears to rest.

"Harry, are you going to enslave him?" she asked." Are you going to make him punish himself? Are you going to overwork him?"

"No. I'd never do that." Harry answered emphatically.

"Then hiring Dobby is a good idea. Dobby?" she called as a loud pop was heard and the little guy started to bounce.

"How can I serve Harry Potter sir and his Grangy?" he asked with a beaming smile.

"Well, Dobby. My Godfather's elf died a while back and wants to hire you. Would you be willing to work for him?" Harry asked.

"Of course, Harry Potter sir. I would loves to work for yous dogfather. Is this his house?" Dobby asked.

"Yes, for now." Harry smiled at the dogfather comment.

"Then I be making dinner." Dobby popped away. He popped back a moment later. "This be in the kitchen for you." He said as he handed Harry a piece of parchment and disappeared again. Harry looked down at it. It was from Arthur asking them to be at Charlie's Funeral at 12.30 tomorrow. The funeral was at one.

Harry looked at his watch and couldn't believe it was only four. "It's too early to be this tired." He groaned.

"Why don't we go upstairs and nap?" Hermione suggested as Harry just nodded and followed her up to his room. There, she sat down on his bed, pulled her shoes off and laid down, patting the bed next to her. He did the same and they fell asleep.

HP

A little while later, Harry heard crying. As he became more conscious of the world around him, he realised it was Teddy. He popped up off the bed like a rocket and ran up the stairs to the nursery. As he walked in, he noticed Teddy was wiggling around in his cot.

"Hey Teddy." He cooed as he gently picked him up. "How're you doing little guy?" He strode over to the changing table, laid Ted down, and started to try to change his nappy. Teddy just cooed and giggled as Harry tried. "You think this is funny, do you? Well, let me tell you, it's not. Now please stay still, I can't get this thing pinned together if you don't stay still! Really Hermione should be doing this. I know she's at least read a book about this." The new Godfather grumbled. Teddy just kept wiggling and waving his arms as Harry grumbled on. "There! You're all nappied up!" He grinned at his adorable Godson as he buttoned up his clothes and swaddled him back up. Picking him up, the raven-haired Godfather turned towards the door to see Tonks, Sirius and Hermione trying very hard not to laugh. It didn't last long because Hermione began to chuckle which led the others to chuckle until they were all laughing hysterically.

"Oh Merlin! That was the cutest thing ever." Hermione got out through her laughter.

"The look of pride on his face was priceless." Tonks added.

"At least he got it right the first try. I didn't. By the time I was done changing him for the first time both he and I were crying and James had to check it out to make sure it was done right." Sirius laughed.

"Here's your son Tonks, freshly nappied." Harry said as he handed Teddy over and walked past everyone in what he hoped was a dignified manner. "I'm going to the drawing room to relax before dinner. You guys can join me when you're done laughing."

When he got to what he was beginning to think of as "my seat", he noticed there was a Butterbeer sitting on the table next to it. Looking at it, he could only think of one person who'd do that. "Thanks Dobby." He said to the air.

"Your quite welcome Harry Potter Sir." Dobby replied as he popped in. "Is there anything else I be getting you sir?"

Harry looked at his diminutive friend "No but I haven't had the time to thank you for getting us out of Malfoy Manor, so thank you for saving our lives Dobby."

"Yous be welcome Harry Potter Sir. Bad old Master wouldn't hurt Harry Potter Sir if I coulds help it." He answered with a big smile.

"You're truly an amazing friend Dobby."

Dobby popped out as Harry heard him crying. Knowing how emotional the elf was, he expected as much. At that moment Tonks came in with Ted. Harry got up and held out his hands for his Godson.

"You want to feed him?" Tonks asked as she handed him over.

"I don't have the equipment needed." He laughed.

"That's why there are these inventions called bottles." She waved her wand to summon one. "I keep several filled so Remus and Sirius can feed this little monster too." She sighed. "I guess I won't have to keep as many now that Remus is gone. Let me show you how to do it, yeah?" Harry nodded as they settled in their seats and Tonks coached him through his first feeding. As he was nearly done, Sirius and Hermione came in.

"Here Hermione. You can burp him." The young Godfather handed Teddy over.

"So, you did your first feeding, yeah?" Sirius commented.

"Yep."

"Much easier than nappy-time isn't it?" Sirius laughed as Harry nodded fervently. "Whenever I was at their house, James would fob nappy-time off on me. You and I had some very fun conversations as I struggled with the nappy. You would giggle uproariously when I tried to nappy your head rather than your bum."

"Well, even I must've known where the nappy went Sirius!" Harry laughed at the image. "I may try that with little one over there." Harry said as they all heard a huge burp come out of that tiny boy.

"That's my boy!" Tonks reached over to pat her son.

"What'd you guys decide for the funeral?" Hermione asked tentatively as she stood to rock Teddy.

"It's Thursday morning at nine at the funeral home in Godric's Hollow. He will be cremated. There will be a wake afterwards that will have brunch foods. They'll take care of putting everything together. We just need to show up." Sirius said. "I'm giving the eulogy because Dora couldn't do it. Do either of you want to speak?"

"I'd like to, if that's okay?"

Tonks burst into tears. "Thanks Harry. He would've wanted that. You may not realise this, but he loved you as though you were his own." Harry moved from his seat to next to Tonks and took her in his arms. "Every night this last year we would both include you in our prayers. He was so worried when you didn't come back from the ministry. He and Sirius were prowling the floors wanting to go after you. Only Arthur turning up letting us know you got out got them to calm down. Wolfie was terrified you were gone. Now he's the one that's gone. How is that fair?"

"It's not Tonks. But you have us now and we'll do Remus proud in raising Teddy. You're not alone" Harry promised as Sirius and Hermione joined the hug. As Teddy was squished in the hug, he burst into giggles. At that everyone pulled away.

"There's too much sadness here." Sirius declared as he pulled Hermione and Teddy up and began dancing to unheard music.

"Sirius! I have a baby in my arms, I can't dance" she mock scolded.

"Dinner is being served." Dobby announced as they headed to the dining room. Sirius did everything he could to lighten the mood in the house to make sure they all went to bed in a better mood than they woke up.

At the end of the night, Harry and Hermione shared a passionate good night kiss at Hermione's door and they each went to bed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Ch 2**

**Sunday 3 May 1998**

The next morning, Harry woke up to crying. He didn't understand what was going on until his brain began functioning properly and he realised that Teddy's crying was coming from closer than Tonks' room. He got up and went to investigate.

He found Sirius' door open and walked in to see his Godfather dead asleep with Teddy tucked under his arm. _How can Sirius sleep with that racket next to his ear, _Harry wondered as he tried to figure out a way to extricate Teddy from Sirius without waking Sirius. "Bloody hell! This is impossible." He muttered as Ted noticed him and ratcheted up the noise level. "Okay little man." He whispered soothingly as he carefully moved Sirius' arm from around Teddy. He put the arm above Sirius' head and picked up Ted. "Okay little one, let's go get your nappy changed." He murmured into Teddy's head as he moved him to Harry's shoulder.

After a much more successful change, Harry got him a new outfit and swaddled. "Dobby?" he whispered as Dobby popped in.

"Yes Harry Potter Sir. How cans I help?"

"Can you please get another bottle for me so I can feed little one here?"

"Of course, Harry Potter Sir but I can do it if you need to do something else."

"No thanks Dobby. I want to spend some time with him."

"Okay Harry Potter Sir." He popped away and almost instantaneously was back.

"Thank you, my friend." Harry said as he started feeding and rocking Teddy. "Little one, you don't know this but your dad was a good friend of my dad. Now both our dads are gone and we have to figure out how to live without them. Why don't we make a deal, yeah? I'll help you and you'll help me. We'll work through this life together. I'll always be there for you and you just keep being your normally giggly self and that'll help me, yeah?" All during this little talk, Godfather and Godson just stared at each other, Teddy holding on to Harry's pinky as he drank his milk. "What do I do with my life, now that Riddle's dead?" He asked his Godson as he started to burp him. "I mean I know that I'm going to spend my life with Hermione if she'll let me but what comes next little one? I don't want any more life or death nonsense so being an auror is out. What do I want to do?"

"Whatever you feel like love." Hermione answered for Teddy. "And I'll be there for it all."

"It's just so hard to figure out. I can't help thinking of all the orphans that have come out of this war. Maybe I can do something with them?"

"Maybe. Maybe you could teach. We know you have a talent for that." His bushy-haired girlfriend suggested as she followed him to his room.

"Could you watch him while I take a shower?" He asked.

"I can take him Harry." Tonks said as she came to the door. "Thanks for cleaning him up." She smiled tiredly.

"No problem. He and I had a good talk." Harry smiled as he handed Teddy back to his mum.

"Well thanks. I got a nice long shower and was able to do it without worrying about this little guy." She smiled at her son. "I heard Dobby say breakfast was in an hour." She advised the teens. "And I'm sure we're leaving after that so I'd hurry up."

"Will do." Both teens said as Hermione gave Harry a kiss. "I'll go take a shower now." She let her boyfriend know.

HP

An hour later everyone was sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast. "Why aren't we eating in the dining room like we did last night?" Harry asked, curiously.

"We've always had breakfast and lunch in here. Dinner was always in the dining room. Habit, I guess." Sirius shrugged.

"Makes sense." Hermione said as she wiped her mouth.

"After we're done here, we're going to Madam Malkins for formal wear. Then we'll go to Gringotts for portkeys to Australia. Then we'll go to the Ministry to take the oaths for the Wizengamot. Then we'll go to the Burrow." Sirius laid out the day. "By that point a listing of all the upcoming funerals should be at the ministry and we can get a copy. I'm sure there will also be some meeting of Wizengamot tonight. So, we'll have to go to that." Sirius finished.

"We should also go to Crawley to get in touch with a friend of my family's who's a realtor so we can start looking at houses tomorrow." Hermione added.

"Okay. Let's do that this morning if possible." Sirius planned. "Dobby, we won't be home for lunch and I'll let you know about dinner."

"Yes Master Dogfather." He smiled up at Sirius. With that everyone left to floo to Madam Malkins.

"How may I help you?" a twenty-something redhead asked as they gathered at the front of the shop.

"We all need dressrobes." Sirius began as he put a hand on Harry's shoulder. "And my Godson here and I need sets of Wizengamot's robes made." He smiled at the girl.

She blushed and stammered out, "Of course, sir. And your name is?"

"Black. Sirius Black." He turned up the wattage on the smile so much so the girl was actually drooling.

"Sirius! Stop it this minute!" Hermione hissed. "You're not here to flirt!"

"Of course, Hermione." He turned down what he called his "charm factor" as Madam Malkin sent the girl away and began helping them herself. The girl was useless if there was a charming man around!

Soon everyone was measured and the robes were ordered. "Please give me an hour to get them ready for you."

"Of course, Madam." Sirius looked at his family. "Let's go to Gringotts." He started walking down the Alley. As they walked, they began to gather a crowd. It started with "There's Harry Potter! He killed He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named! Thank you, Harry!" or some variation thereof. At this Sirius just laughed.

"Why does this happen all the bloody time?" The boy in question muttered as he held his head down.

"Language Harry."

"They don't know how to thank you kiddo—so they mob you." Sirius smiled at the horrified expression on Harry's face. "You're going to have to learn to deal with some of this for a long time to come. They see you as having stopped the war and this is how they express their gratitude."

"But I only stopped Voldemort. A lot more people died fighting the Death Eaters. Why don't they care about those?" Harry asked, thinking of Remus and Charlie.

"You're a recognizable figure so they'll glom onto you." Tonks contributed.

Then began the horrendous catcalls. "Marry me Harry!" "I'll have your children Harry!". At this Harry took Hermione's hand and kissed it, trying to get them to realise he wouldn't be interested.

Finally, they walked into the safety of Gringotts. Harry took a deep breath and stopped. He turned to Hermione and hugged her. "That was a bloody nightmare! Are you okay?" He asked as he pulled away from her.

"Language Harry. But yes. It's just a bit overwhelming I guess." She smiled. They sat down in the lobby as Sirius got the portkeys. "Look up Harry. They're already fixing the mess we made!"

"Yeah and it looks like it's almost done." The dome was almost completely repaired.

"I got the portkey for this Saturday morning at 9." Sirius said as he came back a little while later. "Let's floo back to Madam Malkin's. It's been 45 minutes. And I'm thinking Harry doesn't want to go outside." They looked out and saw an even larger crowd waiting.

"Nope!" Harry agreed emphatically. They floo'd back to the dress shop and changed into the dress robes—even Teddy had baby dressrobes to change into. After that, they floo'd to the ministry and went down to the Wizengamot office. Once there, Hermione and Tonks took seats in the waiting area.

"So, how are you doing Hermione?' Tonks asked as they sat down, Teddy being put on a blanket on the ground.

"I'm fine- I think. I'm a little confused with processing everything that's happened these past few days. I was really scared going into Gringotts because we stole a horcrux from their vault and made off with their dragon. I didn't know whether they'd let us in again"

"Yeah. Goblins are prickly little buggers but I bet Sirius made some deal with them. We'll have to ask tonight." She laughed.

As the women kept up a conversation, Sirius and Harry walked up to the receptionist. "Hello, I'm looking to claim my family seat on Wizengamot and so is my Godson." He smiled as she looked up from the Daily Prophet.

"Of course, Lord Black." She replied as she got up. "Please follow me." She took a look at Harry. "Hello Mr. Potter. Thank you for doing what you did." She said a little shyly.

"It wasn't just me ma'am. A lot of people fought and died in this war." He countered.

"Yes. My own brother died but you stopped that evil man. Thank you."

"You're welcome." He said. "My condolences on your loss."

"Thank you. Here we are." She waved them into an office.

"Thank you, ma'am." Sirius responded as he strode into the office.

"How may I help you?" a man in his 50's asked as they sat down. They filled him in on what they needed. He had them sign a bunch of documents after providing blood to prove who they were. Then they took their vows.

"I, Harry James Potter, solemnly swear to uphold the laws of Wizengamot. I affirm that I will protect and defend those that are under Wizengamot jurisdiction to the best of my abilities. I take this vow of my own volition as I take up my Hereditary seat passed down through time by my forefathers."

After they each swore their vows, they received a document with the dates and times of the sessions for the summer. They also received a list of trials and when they might be needed as witnesses.

"I haven't even been to one session yet and they're handing out homework already?" Harry asked his Godfather as they returned to the family.

Sirius laughed. "Yep kid. Wizengamot is known for their proliferation of parchment. We'll get a house with a large enough study for both of us to use—you'll need it." Harry just groaned as he came up to Hermione.

"What's wrong love?" she asked.

"This!" Harry waved the file at her. "I've got homework and I'm not in school!"

"Stop sounding like Ron." She said. "I'll help you tonight." She put the file in her bag.

"It's 11 o'clock." Sirius looked at his watch. "Why don't we go to that realtor's place Hermione?"

"Okay. Hold on." She said as she apparated them to an alley next to the building. "Come on."

After introductions were made and Hermione assured the agent, Emily, that her parents would be back soon, they got down to brass tacks. "What we're looking for is something like my parents have. A large house, preferably more than 10 bedrooms, that has a pool, guest house with 3 or 4 beds, as much land as we can get because we like to be outdoors." Hermione rattled off.

"That's going to be expensive Hermione." Emily worried her lip.

"Price doesn't matter. We'll be paying cash." Sirius contributed.

Emily's jaw dropped as she processed that. "Well, if money's not an issue, I have a few places that will fit the bill. Would you like to go now?"

"How many are there?" Tonks asked.

"Four or five."

"Why don't we go tomorrow?" Harry suggested.

"Of course. Tomorrow at nine then?" she asked.

"Sounds good." Sirius got up as they all prepared to leave.

The next stop of the day was the Burrow. As they walked down the trail to the house, Harry took Hermione's hand. Hermione was biting her lip so Harry pulled her aside.

"What's up love?" he asked.

"Ron. I'm worried about his reaction to us. I'm afraid he'll cause a scene."

"Well, if he does, we'll let Arthur handle it and do whatever he wants. I want to be there for them but I won't be a distraction." He replied as he put his arm around his beautiful girlfriend. "Just remember that I love you with all my heart." With that, they walked through the front door and followed the noise to the kitchen.

"Hello Harry, Hermione!" Molly came around to give them hugs. "How are you two? Welcome back." She said in a very false chipper tone.

"We're fine." Hermione assured the Weasley matriarch. "Can I help with anything?"

"Of course, dear. Can you please move these platters into the tent on the right?" She asked as she pointed to the wide array of foods.

"This looks amazing!" Harry's eyes were wide as he looked at the food.

Molly gave a loud laugh as she batted away his hand. "And you can eat it later young man!"

As Hermione was moving dishes out, Harry looked up the stairs to see Ron coming down. "So, you're here to try and sneak my family like you did my girlfriend" Ron said sulkily as he came into the kitchen.

Harry took a deep breath and counted to ten-twice. "I'm here to support people I see as family Ron."

"They're my family Harry, not yours. Yours are dead, don't steal mine!"

"Ronald Bilius Weasley! How dare you say something like that! On today of all days!" Molly screamed as Arthur ran in the house. Not needing to be told what happened, he took his wife in his arms and said. "Go to your room now Ronald and stay there until you're ready to be civil to everyone. How dare you cause your mother heartache today!"

Hermione walked in just at that moment and went to Harry as he went rigid. "Should we leave?" she asked Harry. "I heard it all out there." She sighed as he looked a question at her.

"Please don't leave Harry." Arthur pleaded. "Ronald will either come down or not. It's his issue, not yours. You're as much part of this family as he is."

Harry nodded his head as he walked out the back door where he went to the tent to sit down.

"Harry, we need a greeter at the entrance to this tent, could you be one?" Fred asked a little while later.

"Sure." He got up and went to the entrance of the tent. "I figured you would have somebody for this duty." He looked at Fred.

"We did. Ron. But he's being an arse."

"I'm sorry, Fred." He truly didn't want to cause this family any more trouble but it seemed just being here caused a problem. He couldn't leave though because that would upset Molly even more. _Gods, can't anything go right?_ He asked the universe.

"Not your issue, mate. Ron's just being the child he is." Harry was surprised that Fred actually seemed angry at Ron. After that there was no real chance to talk to any of the Weasleys as they got busy with guests.

The service was heartbreaking for anyone who knew how close this family usually was. Each sibling of Charlie's, except Ron who had not attended, stood up to speak.

Bill began by saying, "I will not start off with my brother's full name. He never liked it. Charlie was an amazingly lax person who enjoyed the simplicity of life on the dragon reserve or the solitude of being a seeker."

Then each sibling went on to discuss their brother.

After the service, everyone trooped out to a tree with a hole dug for Charlie's body. Bill, Percy, the twins, Harry and Arthur took the coffin from the sitting room, where it had lain with the top open, to the tree and set it in the ground. Arthur was there because Ron was not. Instead of being there to comfort his wife, he was having to deliver his son to his grave. No father should have to do that.

Molly was sitting crying on Ginny's and Hermione's shoulder because she was not only grieving her son's passing but her youngest son had abandoned them. Harry was livid.

After Hermione handed Molly over to Arthur, she saw Harry headed towards the house. "That's not good." She muttered as she signaled to Sirius. He jogged over and she just pointed to Harry.

"Shite!" He grumbled as each of them could see the blow-up brewing on Harry's face as they ran to catch him.

Once in the house, Hermione yelled, "Harry!" He turned around and the look on his face actually scared his best friend. He turned back around and they all started climbing the stairs.

"Don't bother. I won't hit him and I'll put up silencing charms so we don't disturb the guests but I can't not say something Hermione. Molly deserved to have everyone with her not having to be com-" He took a breath before he opened Ron's door. "Hello Ronald." He said in a very cold voice as Ron looked up belligerently.

"What do you want Potter? My room?" He stood up.

It was as though a light went on in Harry's head—Ron had no concept of others unless it related to him somehow. It was useless to yell and scream because he could never see past his own needs to see what others might need from him.

"I'm sorry Ron." He said as Hermione and Sirius looked at each other skeptically and began putting up silencing charms. "I came up here to yell and scream about how your mother had to cry into Hermione and Ginny's shoulders while we laid _your_ brother to rest because your dad had to help carry the coffin. However, I realise now that'd be a waste. You don't care about anyone or anything unless it affects you. If you need something, you ask and whine if you don't get it. But if something is required of you, you never do it." Harry closed his eyes against the realisation that Ron _couldn't_ care about Harry and _never would_ because he was just that selfish. He took a breath. "Good bye Ron." He turned around and walked out on a man he had loved like a brother.

"Well, at least I get my family back." He yelled as Harry was about to shut the door. He came back in.

"Oh I'll be back to the Burrow and your family will be at our new place." He said nodding to his companions. "However, you will not."

"You won't come when I'm here!" He screamed as the new family members left for the kitchen and said good bye to the rest of the Weasleys.

As Harry said good bye to Bill, he said sadly. "We're moving out of Headquarters but once we're settled and get Hermione's parents back, we'll have you all over. We're done with Ron though."

"I'm sorry Harry." He responded as he gave Harry a hug. "We'll see you soon."

"Thanks Bill."

HP

By the time they apparated to Grimmauld, it was 5.30. Everyone settled in the drawing room as Dobby popped in to take overcoats. "Dobby could we have a light dinner soon? I think we're all pretty tired and would like to decompress then go to bed."

"Of course, Master Dogfather. Sandwiches and drinks will be in here shortly" Dobby returned.

"So Harry," Sirius started. "When did you go from wanting to kill Ron to just scaring the pants off of him? By the way, let me know before you ever get that angry with me, I want to head it off before you blow!"

"Don't worry Sirius, I'll let you know when he gets near that level. I can read him like a book. That's why I followed him." Hermione chuckled.

Harry laughed. It was true, Hermione knew him best out of everyone he knew—and she knew how to calm him down too. He reached for her hand and smiled "I realised on the landing that Ron would never think of others." Then he told them of his epiphany about Ron.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Hermione shuddered. "And I kissed him. Yuck!" At that they all laughed as Hermione meant for them to.

They ate a quick dinner and were ensconced in their own beds by 8.00.

**Monday 4 May 1998**

Next morning, it was the same as yesterday. Harry woke up, found Teddy with Sirius and got him up. Everyone was at the kitchen table by seven thirty in the morning. They eventually apparated to Emily's office.

"Why is Teddy always with you in the mornings?" Harry asked his Godfather.

"Because he wakes me up around two for a feeding and I don't take him back upstairs afterwards. He also gets a feed around four." Sirius laughed as he shrugged. "I'm lazy and the kid's adorable so it works."

"Okay. But why don't you wake up at six with him?"

"I usually wake up but you've gotten to him faster these days."

"When did you start this?" Hermione inquired.

"A few days before the battle." He responded as they walked in.

"Hello everyone." Emily greeted brightly. "I think I've found some good prospects for us to look at. Now, none of them are in Crawley proper but they're not too far from here. They're all within five miles. There's even the property right next to your parents Hermione."

"Which one?"

"I believe it's the Tilgate property."

"That one's amazing." She looked excitedly at Sirius and Harry. "It's got nearly 20 acres to it, a pool, 2 guest houses with like 3 bedrooms each, stables for horses, a party pavilion that they used to hold New Year's parties in. I've never been in the actual house though." By this time, she was bouncing up and down in her seat.

"Okay. I guess we need to see that one." Sirius laughed as he put a hand on her shoulder to calm her down. Harry just laughed and Teddy giggled in his arms.

"There are a few more like that. Why don't we get started? I'll take you through all four of them, leaving the one in Grinstead until last." She said as they all got up to leave.

When they got in the people mover and on the way, Harry was enthralled with the beauty of the countryside they were driving through. "You know, Hermione. You are so lucky to have grown up with all this open space." He said as they got out at their first house.

"Yeah. I'm lucky my parents have so much land I can hide away from them to read my books." At that everyone, including Emily, burst out laughing as they got out at the first house.

The house, or more appropriately called a mansion by Harry's standards, was beautiful and almost exactly what everyone wanted—except it had no place for a Quidditch Pitch. Harry and Sirius nixed it for that reason.

The next mansion was nixed because it didn't have a bedroom on the ground floor, which Tonks wanted in case older people came to stay and didn't want to be levitated to their room

By the third one, Sirius was starting to get grumpy. Hermione had started taking notes on what they liked and didn't like about each property as they had decided to see all of them today and decide this evening.

The fourth place didn't have a guest house but had plenty of bedrooms in the main house and everyone loved it.

The fifth place was next to the Granger place. It had a long drive where the house was set in the middle of the property.

"This is a 16th century house that's been renovated over time." Emily began her spiel. As they came in the entrance hall, they saw a sitting room to the left but the entrance hall was split at the back with a glass half-wall. Behind that was a small vestibule with a staircase going up. As they went into the hardwood floor sitting room that had a fireplace, they noticed a much larger sunken drawing room a few steps further on. This also had a fireplace. At the back of the sitting room, there was a door that led to a huge study. "Well, we've found our study Harry!" Sirius joked. It had a large desk, another fireplace with seating around it, walls lined with bookshelves and a door to the back garden on the back wall. The door on the right wall led out to a hallway and there was a utility room door across the hall. There was a door to the outside there as well. Next to the utility room was a bathroom. Both the utility room and bathrooms had doors to the stairwell or rear hallway. There was an entrance to the kitchen/dining room from the rear hallway. There was a small bedroom off the kitchen.

On the first floor, there were 7 bedrooms with en suites and fireplaces. On the second floor, there were four en suites with sitting rooms attached. Two had a small nursery or office attached as well. On the third floor was the half attic that was a game room. "We can get a pool table up here." Harry exclaimed.

There was a four-car garage with a two-bedroom apartment above. "This place would be great for you Harry when you're single and want to live out of the house." Tonks suggested.

Out back there was a patio that went across the whole back side of the house. Off the left side of the house, there was a pathway to the enclosed pool. Two small (4 bedroom) houses were seen in the distance. This back part of the property had a party pavilion which had its own driveway and enough room for the Quidditch Pitch as well. Luckily, the area to use as a pitch was between the main house and the smaller houses.

"Okay, this place is brilliant!" Harry enthused. "We don't even have to leave the property when we want our own house."

"And Grandparents, Aunt Tonks and Grandad Sirius are all here." Hermione grinned as Tonks and Sirius grinned at each other. Though they doubted the youngsters had talked about the future, they were certainly acting as though they would be married sooner rather than later. That Tonks and Sirius were included in that made both feel pretty good inside.

After they got back to the office, Sirius asked for a recommendation for a restaurant for lunch. Emily mentioned Charlie's Deli, so they walked there.

Once they were seated, Hermione started the conversation. "So what'd you think guys? Should we go through each property's pros and cons?"

"You don't want to do that." Harry chuckled. "I could see you decorating the house in that beautiful brain of yours."

"And which house was I decorating?" She replied stiffly.

"The one we saw last."

"And you weren't picturing the Quidditch Pitch?"

"Of course I was. That place was amazing!"

Sirius just chuckled at the affronted look on her face. "Hermione, it was obvious which house you liked and Harry and I liked the same one." He then turned to Tonks. "And which one do you like?"

She swallowed and said. "The last one. The hardwood throughout and the beautiful kitchen. Dobby's going to love it!"

"So it's settled. We'll tell Emily this afternoon and she can start the paperwork. Can you phone—is that the word—her Hermione and let her know?" Sirius asked. He really didn't know if he got that term right. He hadn't been using muggle technology since Lily was alive.

"Yes, I can and yes, it is." She laughed at the relieved expression on Sirius' face.

"Hermione tell me if I get something wrong. I need to blend in better and I'll need your help for a while."

She looked at him thoughtfully. "You really do want to learn about muggle life, don't you?"

"Yes." He said as he got up to pay. "I don't want to be one of those purebloods who think they're above muggle technology. I remember when Lily first introduced me to lights, I was amazed. That's part of why I want to live here. I want lights not candles." He growled playfully as everyone laughed as they left the deli. "So, let's apparate home and you and I need to go to the Wizengamot session that starts at three." He looked at Harry.

HP

At 2.55, Lords Potter and Black apparated into the Ministry. "Harry, remember, don't talk just watch, okay?"

"Sure Sirius." Harry said a bit nervously. Sirius put his hand on Harry's shoulder which always seemed to calm him down. It had ever since Harry was a baby. "Thanks Sirius." Harry smiled weakly at his Godfather

The Wizengamot session started out extremely boring. Roll call, basic bureaucratic stuff. Then it got interesting. Sirius began the melee. Harry realised later that he should have recognised the signs of a prank of epic proportions.

"Lords and Ladies, may I be allowed to speak?"

"The Chief Witch recognises Lord Black as having the floor." Chief Marchbanks intoned.

"Lords and Ladies, as you probably know, I fought on the side of Light not only in the last war but also this one. I was there at Hogwarts trying to keep Voldemort from killing our children. On that day, I witnessed much death—even some students died—but the biggest devastation for me was losing my best friend Remus Lupin. I will never forgive Voldemort and his servants for what they've taken from me." He said harshly. "To prevent this from ever happening again, I would propose 2 statutes: first, that everyone in the ministry from the Minister to the lowliest clerk—including all members of Wizengamot—prove they are not a Death Eater. All they have to do is raise their left forearm. There is a spell in the Black Library that will bring out the Dark Mark if it is being masked by any magical mean. We run this spell over every single person. Those that have it get a fair trial—something I was never afforded—and if their crimes are severe enough, they get put through the Veil. Secondly, anyone claiming the Imperious Curse be given the same trial. They may have been cursed to take the slave mark, however, their actions afterwards are their own. We cannot have those susceptible to the curse as our lawmakers and officials. Those are my two suggested legislations."

At that, the hall burst into chaos, so much so that some seemed to be simply blubbering. It was actually quite funny to Harry and Sirius. It seemed they all knew someone who would lose their seat or go through the veil.

"How dare you suggest anyone on Wizengamot would be a Death Eater!" someone shouted.

"There is nothing wrong with believing the Pureblood cause." At that Harry started getting angry. He kept clenching the arm of the seat he was in until his knuckles were white.

"That's incriminating yourself!"

At that Harry stood, cast the sonorous charm and shouted "QUIET!" as everyone promptly shut down. "Anyone that believes Voldemort promoted the pureblood cause is stupid. Voldemort—oh stop hissing every time we say his name—is actually a half-blood with a witch mother and a muggle father. His—"

"Lies! Lies!" was heard throughout the chamber. Harry just raised his voice.

"His real name is Tom Marvolo Riddle. He changed his name after Hogwarts." At that point, he raised his wand and showed everyone the anagram Harry had learned in second year. "His mother died in childbirth and he was sent to an orphanage instead of his muggle father." By this time people were actually listening. "He killed off more pureblood heads of house than Grindelwald. He didn't care about purebloods, he cared about power—nothing more. And anyone who follows him is a slave pure and simple. When he called his slaves on the night he gained a body, they _had _to come, no matter what they were doing. Do we really want people in government who can be called at any time to do a mass murderer's bidding or are weak willed enough to let themselves be Imperioused?"

"It's impossible to overcome the Imperious!" Someone shouted.

"I did. At fourteen after being Imperioused by Voldemort himself! This was after being Crucio'd twice!" Harry repeated. And it went round and round like that until they adjourned at 7.00 deciding to vote on it tomorrow.

The next few days were filled with buying the new house, getting to know Sirius and Tonks without the threat of war and generally trying to stay out of the public eye for Harry.

After the vote for the two laws Sirius had submitted had passed, Sirius and Harry decided to not attend any more sessions until they got back from Australia. It had been decided that the Ministry would administer the Dark Mark Test in the next week and would work towards starting the trials on May 18th.

Both Sirius and Harry were the first to take the test, then retreated home because they knew Remus' funeral was in two days' time.

**Wednesday 6 May 1998**

On Wednesday morning, like every other morning, Harry woke up to Teddy crying. Unlike previous days, he didn't bother trying to be careful of waking his Godfather. As soon as he walked into the room, Teddy went from bawling to giggling. "Come on squirt, let's leave Uncle Sirius to sleep on and you and I can get up." He told the little man as he climbed the stairs to his nursery. "Okay, let's get the dirty stuff over so we can feed you." He started to change Teddy. "See little man, I'm learning how to do this, right?" He asked as he swaddled Teddy back up and took him to the rocker where there was a warm bottle sitting ready for feeding. "And what would we do without Dobby, little man? I can tell you, this would not be the seamless procedure it is. Thank Merlin for the little guy." He said as he rocked Teddy as he ate breakfast.

Usually, after Teddy's breakfast, Tonks showed up and took him off Harry's hands. However, today she didn't so Harry took him down to his room. He conjured a Moses Basket to put Ted in as he was back asleep, grabbed his clothes and went to the bathroom for a quick shower. As he was about to barge in, his lovely girlfriend came out.

"Hey love." She smiled as they kissed good morning.

"Hey yourself." He smiled as he took her more firmly and grabbed her mouth more deeply than the simple peck. Both bundles of clothes dropped as they wrapped their arms around each other, trying desperately to make themselves one person. As Hermione moaned into his mouth, Harry pushed her back against the door. Their tongues exploring each other and dancing about, along with Hermione running her hands through his hair, was making him very hard.

"Excuse me. Some of us might want to use the bathroom for its intended purpose." Sirius sniggered as they nearly bounced apart. Sirius' sniggers went to full out laughter at the looks of guilt on their faces as they moved aside for him. As he went in, Harry and Hermione looked at each other shyly. Both were bright red but were smiling.

"We should do that more." Harry said lightly.

"Yes, just not out here in the hall." Hermione returned as they both started laughing.

"Since you're dressed Hermione, do you mind checking in on little one as I take a shower?"

"Sure. Where is he?"

"My room in a basket. Thanks." He said as Sirius and he switched places.

"Soooo Hermione, how're you doing today?" Sirius asked with a crooked grin on his face and his eyebrows wiggling suggestively.

"Something seems to be wrong with your eyebrows Sirius. Are you okay?" she asked innocently as she went to Harry's room.

"Hmmmph" was all she heard in response as she opened Harry's door. To her surprise, Tonks was sitting on Harry's bed watching Teddy sleep.

"You know, he is so much like his daddy." Tonks said as she motioned to her son. "He's always looking around, trying to figure his new world out. He has this one expression that is pure Wolfie. It's the look he gives right before he giggles." She smiled at her sleeping little prince. "I wish Wolfie were here. He loved Ted so much." She began softly crying.

"I know." Hermione hugged Tonks. "You should have seen the look on his face when he told us Teddy was born. He looked so much younger than we'd ever seen him."

"Yeah. This little man brought Wolfie alive. He was quite willing to help with night feeds. That's why I started using bottles. He'd wake up even though I needed to do the feeding. After the first few days, I just let him at it." She smiled.

"Those are the things you've got to remember so you can tell Teddy."

"Yeah." She said as she wiped her eyes. "So what are you doing today?"

Recognising that Tonks was done talking about Remus, Hermione replied. "I was thinking we'd take Harry into the muggle world for clothes. Would you like to come?"

"Sure. Let's talk to Sirius about leaving Teddy here though." She smiled.


	3. Chapter 3

**Ch. 3**

Later that evening, after a full day of shopping, the three arrived home to see Sirius laying as Padfoot on an enlarged divan in the drawing room cuddled up protecting Teddy from falling, both sound asleep and even snoring in stereo. They each backed out of the drawing room and down to the kitchen before they all burst into laughter.

"Oh that was so c-c-ute." Hermione said between laughs.

"I-I-I want a ca-camera" Harry added.

"R-Remus would n-n-never let him f-f-orget that." Tonks supplied

"I see you found Master Dogfather with Master Harry's Godson." Dobby said with a wide grin as he came around from the icebox. As he did, he snapped his fingers and there was a photo of the scene. "I tooks a picture. I thoughts yous might likes it." He smiled as he handed it to Harry.

"We've got to enlarge it and frame it." Tonks grinned. "We can put it in the entrance hall of the new house."

"That's brilliant Tonks." Harry agreed

"What's brilliant?" Sirius asked as he and Teddy came in. Harry handed the picture to Sirius.

"Eh. That's awesome." Sirius grinned. "He got my best side too." He turned into Padfoot and showed off the side in the picture. Turning back, he just laughed. "Yeah, James and Remy would love that shot."

"Dinners be served momentarily." Dobby said as he smiled indulgently at his wonderful family. He was so happy with his new life sometimes it was hard to contain himself.

**Thursday 7 May 1998**

On Thursday, Harry woke up with Ted but he was definitely less talkative. He had spent most of the evening and into the night polishing and practicing his speech for the funeral today.

"Well, kiddo, we're going to say goodbye to your dad today. I'm so sorry you won't grow up with him but we'll all be here to help you. You can come to us with anything you need. Just ask your mum." He told his godson. "Sirius and I already take care of you part of the night so she can get as much rest as she needs. We'll be here no matter what little man." He promised as he burped Teddy.

"Is he ready for me?" Asked Tonks with forced cheer.

"Yeah. Are you ready for today?"

Tonks' smile disappeared as she took her boy. "How can I be ready to admit I'm never going to see my husband again?" She asked, her eyes taking on a dead quality Harry had only glimpsed briefly when she thought no one was watching.

"I can't imagine that." Harry said honestly as he hugged her.

HP

The new family portkeyed to the funeral home in Godric's Hollow at 8.50 that morning. Both Hermione and Harry noticed that it was right next to the church his parents were buried in. They saw 3 tents erected in the graveyard, one near his parents' gravesite.

"That must be Moony's" Harry said, motioning to it.

"Probably." Hermione agreed as she wrapped her arms around him. As they walked into the funeral home, they realised the main room looked more like a church than a funeral home in the muggle world. Instead of it being a large room that's decorated in neutral colors, it had stained glass windows depicting people and events important to the magical world.

A few minutes later, everyone began streaming in. People like McGonagall, Kingsley, the Weasleys, Professor Flitwick, Neville and his Grandmother, Luna, Xeno, the Tonkses and many others sat down in the seats.

Hermione took Teddy from Tonks as she leaned into her mum. The Funeral Director said a few words about Remus, then Sirius got up to give the Eulogy.

"I met Remus on the train to Hogwarts at 11 years old. He, James, and I became more than best friends, we became brothers. Over our infamous years there, we were known as an absolute menace to our Professors, especially our Head of House Professor McGonagall. With as many detentions as we received, Remus always got the fewest. For a while this confused us, until we realised that he seemed never to be a suspect. He made the point in, I think it was fourth year, that he had a reputation as being the smart, shy kid by the Professors so it was hard to catch him, while we were loud and boisterous. We didn't mind though. If he wasn't in detention, he was working on new prank ideas, so it worked." He smiled at the unlady-like snort McGonagall gave at that. Over the next 10-20 minutes Sirius talked about how they all bonded, how they seemed to separate because of the war and how they met up at Hogwarts in Harry's third year. "When I found out Mooney was a Professor, I laughed for a good 20 minutes. Only he, the studious one, would _voluntarily_ go back to school." Everyone laughed at the shiver Sirius made. Sirius continued talking about how Remus kept his spirits up while he was a fugitive, how he _finally_ gave into Tonks "And just married the bloody girl! When they found out they were pregnant, he was terrified but happy." He told of Remus first holding Teddy and deciding on Harry as Godfather. "The last conversation we had was walking into the castle that night. We promised each other that whoever lived would take care of Teddy, Tonks and Harry like they were their own. He was my brother in all ways except blood and I will miss him for the rest of my life. But I will honor that promise, as I know he would have in my place, until the end of days." At this he walked from the podium. He finally began to cry as Harry and he hugged and he sat down next to Tonks.

Harry, his face glistening with tears already shed, took the podium. "As most of you know, I grew up knowing nothing about my parents until Hogwarts. It was then that I learned I looked like my father with my mum's eyes. That all changed third year when I met Remus. He started to fill in the facts about my parents: who they were, what they were like. He was my first contact that actually knew my parents and was willing to share them with me. He was a very kind, caring man that I was fortunate to have in my life these last almost five years. It was his tutelage that led me to be able to perform a corporeal Patronus at thirteen. Yes he was that good a teacher." He responded to the gasps of the audience. "Over these last years, I have been blessed to know such an amazing man. When I found out he married Tonks I was ecstatic. You could see he was truly happy. When he showed up at Shell Cottage a few weeks ago telling us about Teddy-well ecstatic doesn't quite cover it. It was as though he looked 10 years younger. When he named me Godfather to his child," he paused to stop himself from crying. _Damn it, he'd made it this far, he wasn't going to cry now._ "I was so incredibly honored I couldn't believe it. Teddy, Tonks, Sirius and I will all miss him in different ways but we will raise Teddy to know what an amazing man his dad was." He finished. As he came down, he saw Hermione give Ted to Sirius as she stood up to hug Harry and let him cry. As they sat down, the Director exhorted everyone to follow him out to the graveyard where they interred his ashes next to James and Lily.

They then went back to the Funeral Home where a nice brunch was served and people began to talk about him. Sirius, Harry, Hermione, Tonks, and Teddy all sat down and ate to some degree. However, many people came up to share their stories of Remus.

At one point, Neville, Augusta, and Luna came over. "I think my fondest memory of Professor Lupin was the boggart incident that year." He, Harry and Hermione all started to laugh.

"What happened?" Augusta asked

"I told him my greatest fear was Snape and, unlike most people, he didn't laugh. He just said something like 'he is pretty scary isn't he.'" Everyone burst out laughing, which woke Teddy as Augusta reached to take him.

"You know, he told me last year that he chose you first because he wanted to give you confidence." Tonks volunteered.

"Well, it did." Neville chuckled.

"He loved teaching." Sirius sighed.

"I was having trouble that year in Defence and Charms. He ended up tutoring me in both." Luna said.

"I didn't know that." Harry said.

"He loved all those tutoring sessions." Sirius continued. "I remember when we decided to get you those books your fifth year Harry. He went into overdrive trying to find the _best_ books to buy. He was so happy you liked teaching."

After a little while they said goodbye and others came and went for another hour or two, taking possession of Teddy for a while each.

At around noon, the little family apparated home and ended up in the drawing room. Teddy had been put in his cot and the adults were finally alone.

"Merlin was that hard." Sirius sighed.

"Yeah and we've got two more tomorrow morning." Harry said with his eyes closed and head on Hermione's shoulder.

"Those won't be as draining though." Hermione replied.

"Who are they?" Tonks asked.

"Colin and Lavender"

"Then we're off to get your parents on Saturday." Harry grimaced.

"Why that look?" Hermione asked sharply.

"I'm about to meet your dad after spending nearly a year in a tent with you. Not only that but I'm coming as not your friend but as your boyfriend. And I know he owns a lot of torture devices. He is a dentist."

"You can kill Voldemort, the worst Dark Lord in forever, but not face Daddy?" Hermione burst out laughing as she reached over and hugged him. "You are so cute sometimes."

"And you're making fun of me." Harry said mock petulantly.

"Meeting the parents…always disturbing." Sirius laughed. "James was absolutely terrified to meet Lily's parents. Lily had to apparate him there because he was so nervous, she was afraid he'd splinch himself."

"Did they like him?" Harry asked curiously.

"Oh, they got along great. Lily's dad and James talked football and Quidditch a lot that weekend from what I heard." Sirius smiled fondly. "Moony and I gave him such a hard time when he got back. It was fun."

"Okay." Tonks said. "I'm going to go to sleep while Teddy lets me."

"I think I will too." Hermione agreed as she took Harry's hand and they went upstairs.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" Sirius yelled at them. Harry gave him the two-fingered salute but he wasn't in the room for Padfoot to see.

"None of that." Hermione chuckled.

"Night Tonks." Harry said as she continued up the stairs. They walked into his room. "Wanna sleep here?" He asked as he transfigured his clothes into pajamas.

"Sure." She did the same and laid on the bed. They spooned together on top of the covers and fell asleep almost instantly. They were really tired.

HP

While everyone else was sleeping, Sirius was feeling like a caged animal. He had to physically do something, so he left Grimmauld to go for a walk. On his walk, the images of the last few weeks went through his mind.

Two weeks and one day ago, he was sitting with a _very _pregnant, _very_ grumpy Dora and a very ecstatic, very _alive_ Moony. They were just relaxing while Dora kept complaining of her back hurting. It seemed these pains were coming very regularly to Sirius.

It wasn't until about nine that night that he understood what was going on. "Dora, the back spasms have been coming every 10 minutes, now they're every eight." Sirius said. "I think you're in labor." He laughed at the shocked look on her face.

"I can't be. These are just fake labor pains." Tonks replied a little hysterically.

"I was there when Lils went into labor. It started off that way too."

"Really?" Moony asked agitatedly.

"Yes. Maybe you should call your mum Dora?" Sirius suggested. After that is was a blur for Sirius until he got to see Moony finally hold his own son. The look of pride is something Sirius had only seen once before—on James the night Harry was born.

Now they were both dead and he had to figure out how to live without them but with their sons. It should be Remus or James alive. They'd know how to handle this. They were the fathers after all.

Now he needed to take charge and be the adult he had always pretended not to be. What was best for his new little family? Well, getting out of Grimmauld as fast as possible would be good for everyone, especially Tonks. Having made that decision, he apparated from a deserted alleyway.

HP

At Grimmauld, Harry woke up slowly. Getting his glasses, he looked at the clock: 4.30 in the afternoon. He looked over and saw Hermione cuddled into him. He could feel every part of her body along his. Just simply thinking about it made him hard.

He took a deep breath and tried to calm the hormones racing through his bloodstream. _Gods she beautiful. And smart and loyal and clever and sexy and strong-willed and sexy. And I love her so much I can't even put it into words. I can't imagine my life without her by my side. She can't possibly want me that way. That's not my luck_, he thought, resigned to the fact that she wouldn't want him long term.

"What's wrong, love?" She asked looking up at him.

_Better get this over with so we can build some friendship out of the ashes_, he thought,_ better to be honest with her now than hurt her later. _"I was just laying here thinking how beautiful and smart you are and that there was no way you would ever want me as a long-term boyfriend or husband. I'm thinking maybe we should break up now so we can remain friends. It seems the logical thing to do." He said quickly, it was hurting to say it all.

She stood up and as he got into a sitting position, he noticed the anger on her face and the tension radiating from her body. _What? I'm trying to save our friendship?_ He thought. "So you're telling me you don't want me now?" she said coldly

"It's not that." He exclaimed frantically. "It's that I know you could do a lot better than me and you need that chance. . . And I still want us to be friends afterward"

_Oh my. He's scared too. That's what this is about_, she mentally sighed_. Now how do I deal with this? _"Well, what if I don't want anyone 'better'. What if I just want my Harry?"

"For good?" He asked hopefully.

"If you'll have me." She smiled as she sat on his lap. "As long as you don't try and break up with me again." She added sternly.

"Oh. I'll have you." He grabbed her waist and brought her to the bed underneath him as he spent quite a while showing her how much of her he would have. They stopped quickly as a knock was heard at their door. They both jumped up, pulling at their disheveled clothes in the process. "Come in." He raised his voice.

The door opened to Tonks and Teddy in the doorway. "Could you take Teddy while I take a shower?" she pleaded.

"Of course." Hermione came over to take the little bundle.

HP

That evening, after dinner, the family was sitting in the drawing room. Teddy was on the floor playing in his bouncer.

"Did you get that at a muggle store?" Hermione asked Tonks.

"Yeah. I was wandering London and I walked into a shop that had them. Teddy loves it." She smiled at her son.

"While you were all asleep, I went to the real estate office and got the keys to the house." Sirius said, holding out the keys.

"How did you do that? It takes at least a month for a person to move in." Hermione asked.

"Magic. Or at least the magic of money." Sirius grinned. "I thought that while we were at the funerals tomorrow, Dobby could bring the essentials to the new place, then Tonks could decorate while we're in Australia."

"Sure." Tonks smiled. "So this is our last night here. Great!"

"I'm planning on selling this place and only taking the bedroom furniture in our rooms and the library. So Dora, you're going to have to buy all new stuff. I'm picking up a credit card for each of you that will be good at muggle or wizarding stores tomorrow." He held up his hand at the sudden cacophony of voices that assaulted him. "Please listen. I want to make sure that you each have a back up card to use in case you misplace your own money. It's just for emergencies and whatever we agree on as a family."

"Okay." Hermione sighed as she plopped back into her seat. She was the most vociferous in her objections. "I just don't want to rely on anyone. I have my own savings."

"I understand." Sirius smiled at how much of an independent streak Hermione had—just like Lily 'I can spend my own money, thank you very much' Evans.

After dinner and some playing with Teddy, everyone headed off to their own beds.

That night Harry had a nightmare and couldn't get back to sleep. He ended up with Teddy in his bed after Sirius gave him the bottle for the three or four o'clock feeding.

Harry brought Teddy to his room, summoned the nappy and all the 'crap', as Harry'd begun to think of it, that went along with changing a baby's nappy and changed the kid. Then he lit the fireplace, conjured a rocking chair and sat to feed Teddy. After Teddy burped, they both fell asleep next to the fire—Teddy curled on Harry's shoulder.

**Friday 8 May 1998**

Of course, a few hours later Teddy woke up and tried to wiggle around. Harry woke up and caught him from falling. "No no there, little man. Don't scare your Goddaddy like that!" He sighed as he stood up to change the little guy. Teddy started to whimper as he got changed "Sorry Ted. Got to change you. Otherwise you'll stink. And you don't want that do you?"

He sat down to feed Ted and thought he might be looking for a breast because he kept nuzzling into Harry. "Aren't we all kiddo." He laughed. "You'll understand when you're older. Girls' breasts are fun when you're my age—they're just food to you now but just wait." He told Teddy.

"What are you telling my son about breasts?" Tonks asked mock sternly.

"N-N-Nothing Tonks." Harry stared guiltily at the mother of his Godson. Tonks burst out laughing as she conjured a rocker and sat next to Harry. They just sat there for a while enjoying just entertaining the baby.

HP

Later that morning, they all attended Colin and Lavender's funerals. Colin's was in his hometown where everyone tried to dress as muggles. He was muggleborn, so there were loads of muggles there. It was a very solemn affair.

Lavender's was at Godric's Hollow as well. It was a very pretty service with Parvati giving a small speech about her best friend.

After the services, they went to a pub in Godric's Hollow for lunch. "Those were both very nice services." Tonks said as she fed Teddy.

"Yes they were. I'm really going to miss Lavender next year. She was always so boisterous and happy. She was just too gossipy for me." Hermione sighed.

They talked about the two students throughout the meal. As they left, Sirius suggested. "Why don't we go to the new house now? Dobby should have brought our stuff there already. I talked to him this morning and he said it wouldn't take too long."

"Okay." Harry returned as they went to an alley and disapparated to the entrance hall of the new house. He began to laugh as he noticed the 1m by 2m photo of Padfoot and Teddy on the wall. "Dobby!" He called through his laughter. A second later Dobby popped in. Harry simply pointed to the picture and forced the words "Thank you, my friend." Out of his mouth. Dobby just smiled as everyone else figured out what had Harry so fussed and were laughing too.

_It was nice when your family appreciated you,_ Dobby believed

They spent the next few hours just getting used to the new house. Teddy woke up as Harry and Tonks were walking around the pool together. "Here ya go Godfather." Tonks grinned as she handed him out of the papoose she was wearing him in.

"You're really taking advantage of the fact there are so many people to care for him. Just fob him off to one of us why don't you?" Harry laughed at the mock affronted look she had.

"Well, if you're willing to help, what kind of mum would I be to deny it?" She laughed as Harry and Teddy started cooing at each other. "Let's go check out one of the other houses here." They continued to talk about what was going to happen in the ministry in the next few weeks. "By the time I get back to work in August, the ministry will have changed drastically. I mean _Kingsley_ as Minister? He's not nearly corrupt enough!"

"Well, we're trying to change that. We don't want Teddy here to have to fight another Blood War. He's already lost too much in this one." Harry looked down at his baby Godson. "I just wish I could change how Hogwarts teaches." He sighed.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, a muggleborn just gets thrown to the wolves when they're sent to Hogwarts. They're visited by the school on their birthday, told they're wizards or witches, told how to get to Diagon Alley, how to get on Platform 9 ¾, given a book list and told to go at it. While purebloods already know all these things. I just think we need to educate the muggleborns more about how to navigate the wizarding world."

"What are you suggesting? I've never really thought of it that way." She said thoughtfully

"That's because you were raised in this world. I'm thinking of a class for first years about this stuff. I don't know. I'm just nervous that if we don't integrate them more into this world, we'll lose them." He bounced Teddy as he walked in the door of the first small house.

HP

While Tonks and Harry were out at the other house, Sirius and Hermione were in the main house choosing bedrooms. As they had discussed, Hermione, Sirius and Harry would choose bedrooms on the first floor while Tonks would get the rooms on the second floor with a nursery.

Hermione chose a corner en suite with windows on two sides for plenty of light. It also led out to the balcony. As she was drawing up plans for her room, Sirius came in and sat on the floor with her, looking at her designs.

"These are good Hermione. These drawings are very specific." Sirius complimented.

"I want to make sure Tonks knows what to buy me for this room, so I thought I'd draw it out. When is Dobby bringing in our current furniture from Grimmauld?"

"He's already brought mine and it's put up." He smiled at the astonished look on her face as she stood.

"Dobby?" He popped in. "Can you please bring my furniture in soon?"

"Of course Miss Grangy." He disappeared and a few seconds later he popped back in with everything. "Where shall I put these?" They spent the next few minutes arranging the room the way Hermione wanted. After it was done, all three went to the kitchen where there was the table from Grimmauld.

"Dobby, please sit down." Hermione asked.

Dobby climbed up onto a chair but was a little nervous. "What can I do for you Miss Grangy?"

"First, my name is Hermione. Can you please call me that?"

"Her-mine-ee?" He asked a little uncertainly.

"Exactly Dobby. Thank you." Hermione beamed at him and he beamed back. "I understand that in my fourth and fifth years, when I was making all those hats for the House Elves at Hogwarts, that I was really upsetting them." At this statement, Dobby nodded his head so fast, Sirius got a little worried but laughed when Dobby fell to the ground dizzy.

"Okay Dobby. We get it. Calm down." Sirius said between laughs. Dobby calmed down immediately. Hermione just gave Sirius a look and he calmed down too.

"So can you tell me the history of your people so I might understand. I still want to help but I'm unsure how and I'd like to know how this happened."

Dobby thought for a minute. "We don'ts talk about this all that muches." He began. "I was tolds by my grandpappy that we used to gets our magic from the earth. We came out of the forests when the Druids were dying out to see if wes could helps. We continued living outside the forests when the Invaders came. When one of the first armies came, there were magic users we interacted with. One was named Avitus. He bound all elves to him through dark magic. Because our magic is intertwined, once he bound one of us, he bound all of us to him. Then he used other dark magic to cut our source of magic, the earth, and make us use only human magic. If we wanted to live, we needed magic. Taking away our magic would kill us, so many of us bound ourselves to magic users. Over time, we forgot how to use most earth magic, except for things our masters need us to do. We learned that Avitus didn't bound all our magic, just most."

"Like apparating inside the castle?" She asked.

"Yes. But we mainly draw on our master's magic."

"Then why are you not dead?" Sirius asked.

"I don't know. I knows I'm better in tune with my earth magic. When the Great Harry Potter Sir freed me, I expected to die but ats least I is free before that happens." He smiled happily.

"So if you can't be freed from wizards, do you want to be treated better by them? Is that how I can help?" Hermione prompted.

"Yes Miss Her-mine-ee. That would be very helpful." He then got up. "I must start dinner." He said.

"Wait Dobby." Sirius replied. "I need you to do me a favour. We're leaving for Australia tomorrow. Dora is going to be here with Teddy. She's going to be decorating the house and property. Would you please help her? Don't let her do it all on her own because she will try."

"Of course. She needs her rest with the new baby. Don't worrys, I won't let her do more than she can." Dobby answered. "I'll even stay in the nursery to help at night."

"Thank you, my friend."

That evening, everyone ate dinner in a contemplative silence, then went up to pack. After dinner, Harry chose the room next to Hermione's and his stuff was moved in.

**Saturday 9 May 1998**

The next morning was a regular morning, even if it was in a new house. Teddy was with Sirius, Harry got up with him and Tonks took him so Harry could dress.

It was 7.30 when they all came down to eat. By 8.45, they were all packed and talking in the entrance hall.

"I don't want you to stress yourself this week Dora. You need to take care of Teddy first. We can always take a while to decorate the house later." Sirius said as he hugged his cousin.

"I know. Mum's already decided she's coming by every night. I'm not a child. I've lived on my own before." She sighed at Sirius' overprotectiveness. It was nearly as bad as Remus'.

"You've never had a baby alone before." Harry defended. "We're just worried."

"I'll floocall you a few times. Just go!" she said exasperatedly. They all grabbed the portkey and whirled away. "Finally, they're gone!" she sighed dramatically as she and Ted went up to their rooms.


	4. Chapter 4

**Ch. 4 **

Harry felt the tug behind his navel as he whirled around. "Bend your knees on landing." Sirius shouted. Harry just nodded and hung on. Right before landing, he bent his knees and he came out standing.

"Good." Harry muttered as he stood straight. "Where are we?"

Sirius pointed up as he caught his breath. Harry looked up to see the marble structure associated with Gringotts. "Great. Do they know how to contact Hermione's parents?"

"We're supposed to go in and see if the goblins have located them." Sirius said as they walked into the bank and queued up.

It took a while to get to the front of the queue. When they did, the goblin looked much friendlier than in London. "How may I serve you?" He asked.

Sirius looked at the nameplate. "Master Gripslate, we need to talk to a goblin named Master Bowslang. He said he would have some information we need. My name's Sirius Black."

"Of course, Mr. Black. Please wait here." He got off his chair and went looking for something.

"They are much friendlier here." Harry remarked softly.

"Yes. They don't have the horrible relations with humans that they do in Britain." Hermione returned. "The wizards here are much more progressive than in England."

At that point, Gripslate came back. "Follow me please." He stated as they followed behind. They came to a door that was obviously an office. "Master Bowslang will see you now." He bowed as he opened the door.

Sirius walked in first, followed by Harry and Hermione. They sat down where indicated by the wave of the Goblin's hand. "Well, Mr. Black. I am glad to see you got here properly. I have all the information here in the folder." He handed a slim folder over to Sirius before Sirius gave it to Hermione. She dug right in. "You'll see that the Wilkins' are in a suburb of Sydney called Bondi. They are still in the home that Miss Granger bought them. There is the address of the dental practice they own. There is also a reservation at a wizard/muggle run hotel in downtown Sydney for a two room suite for a week. You can check in there after this. It is already 8.00 pm. The portkey to the hotel is reusable and there is a portkey to the Wilkins' house that is also reusable. If you need anything else, do not hesitate to call on me."

"Thank you Master Bowslang. I was afraid I would have to do all this when I got here. I was sure that a week wouldn't be enough time. Thank you so much for everything." Hermione said enthusiastically.

"It is no problem Miss. We here in Australia know what happened last week and wanted to show our gratitude by doing all we could for the Heroes of Hogwarts. Don't be surprised." He admonished at their surprise. "We heard both your speeches in the Wizengamot." He continued. "You three have our respect. You are true warriors."

"Thank you, Sir." All three said as they bowed their heads.

"Now go on to the hotel. Do not forget we are here to help." He said as he led them out of the office.

They stood off to the side of the bank and portkeyed to a very nice hotel. "Wow." Harry said as he looked around like a kid in a candy store. It was a very elegant hotel. "Wish we could've stayed at a place like this last year." He smiled at Hermione.

"Yeah. Five-star hotels, finding a horcrux every other day and home by Christmas, yeah?" They both laughed as she parroted Harry from last year.

"What are you two laughing about now?" Sirius asked as he handed a key over to Harry and they went to the lift.

"Nothing. Just talking about last year." Harry sniggered.

"We have two bedrooms with a sitting room in the middle." Sirius informed them. "The keys work for both bedrooms. I'll take one, you guys take the other." Sirius looked at Harry. "Do not do anything she doesn't want to, understand?" He asked firmly.

"Yes sir." Harry mock saluted. Then he looked more serious. "I know. I would never."

"I know. Just protecting my girl." Sirius said as he put his arm around Hermione.

She just looked up at him. "I can take care of myself!" she said hotly as they went into the sitting room.

"I know but you saved my life, twice and I've grown fond of you. I try to protect those I care about." He replied calmly as they all sat.

"Fine. I'll let you—this time." She returned as she sat down with the folder from Gringotts.

"Sirius, she's going to be gone in her own world for a while. Why don't we unpack and come back out for a nightcap before trying to sleep?"

Sirius nodded thoughtfully. "Makes sense." They got up to do their own thing.

While Harry was unpacking, he was worrying about how the Grangers were going to react when they got their memories back. And what if they didn't? That would devastate his Hermione. Gods he hoped that didn't happen! She had already lost her best friend, Harry didn't want her to lose her parents too.

Then there was the worry of what her parents would think of him as a suitable boyfriend. He knew that Hermione had told them everything about their adventures at school, so they knew he was a danger magnet.

He couldn't help the feeling that he shouldn't be here, that he knew they'd hate him and that would hurt Mione. He wouldn't let her choose him over her family. She had what he'd always wanted—parents that loved her. He would not make her choose.

Finished with his unpacking, he went back to the sitting room. Sirius was laying on the divan and Mione was in the same spot but with the papers spread about. He noticed that they were actual paper and not parchment. When he commented on it, Mione replied "Yeah. I've never figured out why magicals don't use paper and pen." She agreed.

"It's because it's too muggle and the purebloods think muggles are savages and can't invent anything they can't." Sirius answered the unasked question.

"Well, I'm taking paper this year." Harry stated. "We should talk to the muggleborns we know before school starts and get them to do it to. _Force_ the change we want."

"Sounds like a good idea." Sirius approved. "Maybe we can get the Wizengamot to do it too."

"Yeah." Harry definitely liked the idea of a three-ringed binder rather than clipped together sheets of parchment. "I'm going to head to bed." Harry got up. "Are you coming Mione?"

She looked up from her papers and put them in their folder. "Yeah." She said as she got up. "G'night Sirius." She said as she pecked him on the forehead.

When she finally got into bed a little while later, Harry was waiting. "You want to talk about why you studied that file for so long?" He asked.

"I'm just worried I won't be able to fix the memory charm on my parents." She sighed as she cuddled into her raven-haired boyfriend.

"Mione, you're the smartest witch of our age. If anyone can do it, you can." Harry told her confidently.

"I hope you're right." She looked at Harry. "Could you just hold me?"

"Of course." He took her more securely in his arms as he quieted down to sleep.

**Sunday 10 May 1998**

Harry woke up in a panic the next morning_. It's late. Why didn't I wake up? Where's Teddy? _He thought as he sprung out of his bed. He went through the door to the sitting room and was halfway through when he stopped dead as he realised _Teddy's not here; I don't have to rescue him from Sirius_. He turned around and went back to his own room chuckling a bit at the fact that he was so used to getting up with his little man. He climbed back into bed as Mione mumbled. "Teddy's not here love."

"I know, just sleep." He pulled her onto his chest and fell asleep soon thereafter. Later on, he woke up again and noticed there was no weight on his chest. Then he heard the shower running. _Ah, she must be up_, he thought. He got up and put his clothes together. He went into the split bathroom to brush his teeth and shave. As he was done, Mione came out and pecked him on the cheek as she went into the bedroom. "Morning love." She called as she passed him.

"Morning." He returned as he went into the shower/toilet area. When he was done, Mione was just sitting on the newly made bed stock still. Realising what was going on, he sat down next to her. "Hon, I know you're scared but you can do this. I have faith in you." He consoled her.

"What if they're mad at me? What if they hate me for messing with their minds?" She asked softly.

"Then we'll explain why you did it and why it's important." Harry said simply. Harry noticed that she was beginning to relax as Harry kept talking in a very even voice.

"I suppose we should go soon." Mione said as she got up and took Harry in a hug. "Thanks love." She whispered.

"Are you calmer?" he asked, knowing the answer already. She nodded as they walked into the sitting room. "Hey Sirius, ready to go?" Harry asked.

"Aren't you going to eat something?" He asked as he nodded to the muffins and other breakfast foods sitting on the table.

"No. I don't think either one of us are hungry." His Godson replied.

"Okay. I looked at the picture and address of the house. I can apparate us there." Sirius took their arms and popped to the side of the house. "How are we going to get inside for you to do this?" He asked.

"I've got an idea." Hermione began striding around the house and knocked on the door. As her mum came to the door, she stopped herself from throwing herself into her mum's arms.

"Hello. Can I help you?" she asked with a smile.

Harry nudged Hermione. "Yes." She squeaked. "We are planning on buying around here and were wondering if we could look at your place to get an idea of what these places are like."

"Of course." She opened the door wider and turned away from them.

At that point, Hermione pulled her wand, pointed it at her mum and said the spell 'restituere memoria'. Mrs. Granger turned around slowly, as she looked at Hermione, she ran to her. "My baby girl. My baby girl." She kept repeating as she hugged her tightly.

"Mum" Hermione asked. "Do you remember me?"

"Of course, I do. How could I have forgotten you all this time?"

"We'll explain everything Mrs. Granger. Where is Mr. Granger?" Harry asked.

"In the kitchen making breakfast. Come on." She waved at them to follow her. "I assume you have to do the same thing to him?"

"Yes ma'am." Harry returned. They came into the kitchen quietly and Hermione did the spell again.

Mr. Granger was looking away from them when the spell hit. He stopped dead, looked around and yelled "Emma! We're missing Hermione. Where is she?" as he turned around fully. As he saw his daughter, he put his pan back on the hob, turned back to his daughter and demanded hotly. "What the hell did you do to us? Why am I living in Australia? Where have you been? What are you doing here now?" he rattled off_. Just like Hermione, at least she comes by her question rants honestly,_ Harry snickered to himself.

Emma came over to him, put her hand on his arm and explained. "Why don't we all eat and Hermione can tell us what happened? I assume this has to do with the war in your world?" she crooked an eyebrow at her daughter.

"Yes mum." She replied with her head down. A few minutes later, after a very awkward silence, they sat down to eat.

"Hermione, would you please introduce us to your friends?" Emma asked.

"Oh yes. This is my boyfriend Harry Potter and his Godfather Sirius Black." She introduced.

"Didn't you stay at his home a few summers ago?" Emma asked.

"Yes, right before fifth year."

"Welcome to Australia to you both." Emma said as she shook their hands over the table. "I'm Emma and this is my husband Dan."

"Your boyfriend?" Dan asked.

"Yes Daddy. I am eighteen after all. In both our worlds, you have no say in who I see." She rolled her eyes at the stare he was giving Harry. Harry, for his part, was standing up to the scrutiny well.

"I know exactly how old you are young lady." Dan growled out.

"Dan stop this right now!" Emma scolded her husband. "She is allowed to have a boyfriend if she wants. And I told you it'd be Harry." She smiled at the pair as they blushed deeply.

"At least it's not that rude redhead." Dan grumbled. At that, all three guests laughed. "There's a story there, isn't there?"

"Yeah. I kissed him during the battle and he thought that made me his girlfriend."

"Why don't you start from the beginning?" Emma asked. "Why did you move us here and change our memories. Then fill us in on your year."

"Okay." Hermione agreed as she filled her plate with scrambled eggs. "You know the war had started. They were hunting muggleborns and slaughtering them and their families wholesale. I knew there was no way on earth you would agree to leave without me. However, I needed to help Harry on the mission Professor Dumbledore had set him"

"And I really needed her. She is the smartest witch of our time and I knew I needed her help." Harry inserted.

"Anyway, I knew you'd always wanted to live in Australia, so I moved you there."

"Okay. Moving us makes sense. Why erase our memory?" Dan asked.

"Because if you ran into Death Eaters, you couldn't tell them where we were." Hermione replied.

"Would they come here?" Dan asked skeptically.

"To kill Harry Potter's best friend's parents? Unfortunately yes. They would use you against her and by extension Harry." Sirius informed them.

"So what happened after you got us settled?" Emma asked.

"Well, I went to the Burrow." Hermione began to fill her parents in on the year they missed.

When they got to arriving at Grimmauld, Sirius told a bit. "We had all left the Burrow in a hurry but Tonks, Remus and I got back first. We just stayed up waiting for those three to show up. Rem and I were pacing the house while Tonks was muttering to herself."

"We eventually got there." Hermione said as she took over and told how they found Mundungus and found out where the locket was. "So. we began planning how to get into the ministry while we were wanted fugitives." She took nearly the entire morning and most of the afternoon to tell her story with Dan getting the Scotch out around four as they talked about the Battle of Hogwarts.

"So how'd you two start dating?" Emma asked when they got to the morning after.

"Well, I told him I loved him when we woke up after our nap." Hermione answered.

"So, have you made any other plans?" Emma requested.

"I bought the Tilgate property next to yours and plan on being your neighbours." Sirius supplied.

"We're moving into that house in separate bedrooms." Hermione said. "Tonks is furnishing that place while we're gone."

"That's the one with two smaller houses on it, right?" Emma recalled.

"Yeah. We can move in there when we have a family." Harry smiled at Hermione.

"Well, if we're going to be moving back in the next week, we better pack this place up and shut down our office." Dan sighed, it was a lot of work to accomplish in one week.

"Dad, why don't you and I make dinner and we'll start packing and moving tomorrow." Hermione got up as Dan nodded and followed along.

That night, and every night that week would be spent getting to know each other. During the days, Sirius and Harry would pack up the Granger things into trunks they'd bought in Magical Sydney. Meanwhile, the Grangers would work and Hermione tried to find other dentists for their patients.

During the evenings, they would either go out to dinner as a group or cook at home. Dan and Sirius went to the pub a few times to watch football. By the time they returned to England, Sirius was as big a fan as Dan. Dan was also a huge fan of Quidditch by the time they got home. Every night the three guests would portkey to their hotel.

**Wednesday 13 May 1998**

On Wednesday night, Dan invited Harry to the pub for a drink. Harry knew something was up when Sirius didn't come with them. They got settled into a booth with peanuts and drinks when Dan started interrogating Harry.

"So what are your intentions towards my daughter?" He began.

"I intend to marry her sir." Harry replied a little warily.

"Just when are you going to ask her?"

"Hopefully, this summer."

"Do you have enough money to support a wife?" came the next.

"I believe so. From what Sirius tells me, my dad didn't have to work if he didn't want to. I'll be going to the bank to figure that out when we get home."

"Do you want children?"

"Yes. But that's a little personal." Dan didn't seem to mind that answer because he went on.

"What are you going to do with your life?"

"I'm not sure yet. I'm thinking about college after Hogwarts. All I know is I don't want anything more to do with war."

"Good lad." Dan replied. "You ever played pool?"

"No sir."

"Well, come here and I'll teach you." He said as they made their way over to the tables. Harry let out the breath he's been unconsciously holding during the interrogation and began to relax. After that night Dan and Harry became much closer.

**Friday 15 May 1998**

On Friday evening, the Granger house was completely packed. All the trunks, one for each room, were shrunk and stored in Hermione's beaded bag. Their house and business both had offers on them and would close in the next month. The Grangers stayed in a room at the hotel for the night. They were all up at six o'clock that morning and portkeyed from Gringotts Sydney to Gringotts London at 7.30 Sydney time.

When they got to the portkey point near Gringotts, all five sighed. "Back home." Sirius muttered. They looked down the street to see familiar shops: Madam Malkins, Flourish and Blott's and others. "Why don't we apparate the Grangers to their home, then we can meet up tomorrow afternoon after everyone wakes up?"

"Sounds good." Dan agreed. "We can stay up for several hours unpacking and then go for a nap in the morning and be able to sleep regularly tomorrow night."

HP

After dropping the Grangers off, the little family apparated to their entrance hall. This was the designated apparition point in the house. Sirius had set a few others up throughout the property as well but hadn't told anyone yet.

They heard a squeal from upstairs, then pounding on the stairs as Dora came down with Teddy. "You're home!" she screamed as she handed Teddy to Harry and hugged Hermione. "I'm so glad to see you. This place is too big for just us." She said as she hugged Sirius and Harry in turn.

"Teddy, your mum is weird." Harry whispered conspiratorially to his godson.

"And you love me anyway." She said as she wrapped her arms around him. "As you see, I put a bench for taking off shoes and a table to put wallet items on in here. Let me show you around. Dobby and I have been very busy this week." The kitchen was decorated tastefully in a wine theme. The sitting room was done in formal Victorian furniture.

"Wow!" Harry breathed as he walked into the larger drawing room. "This is brilliant Teddy." It had three separate seating areas. One had a large telly with a PlayStation. One had a kid's corner with a toybox, swing and a bouncer. One was next to the fireplace and was simply to sit and talk. As the telly and the fireplace were on opposite sides of the room, you could have a normal conversation and someone else could watch the television. "Did you magically make this room bigger?" Harry asked.

"Yep. It's three times the size it was." Tonks grinned.

"Come on Sirius, let's look at the office." Harry waved him back to the sitting room.

"You don't have to go through there." Tonks pointed to the door on the wall next to the fireplace. "I extended that as well." She grinned. "Surprise! There's enough room for you both to spread out."

They walked in and it wasn't just the large room they were planning on. There were two large oak desks with name plates on them. There was a seating area near the fireplace. There was a bay window near the French doors to the backyard. And, of course, the bookshelves. It had a hardwood floor with a Gryffindor red rug in the seating area.

"I turned the other suite like mine into a full library." She said as Hermione, who'd been following along very quietly, took off to the new library.

Harry, Sirius and Tonks laughed at that as they turned to go upstairs. Bypassing the 1st floor, they went to the second. They found Hermione in a very large room with stacks of bookcases and tables. "This is great." Hermione enthused. "I can bring my library over tomorrow and organise it in here."

They went up to the third story attic which now had a pool table, dart board, bean bag chairs and a bar. There was a stereo in the corner next to a telly. Another fireplace and seating area was at the far end of the attic.

"Well, this is amazing." Harry said as he looked at his asleep Godson in his arms. "I'm going to put this little man down for bed and go to sleep myself." He began to walk to the door.

"I should probably go to bed as well." Tonks replied as she followed her son.

"Do you know what time it is Tonks?" Harry asked as he laid Teddy down.

"Around 12.30, why?"

"Just curious if I'll get to sleep."

"Yeah. You've got issues with the time difference." She sighed as she headed to her room. "I'll see you later today Harry."

"Sure." He waved as he left for his own room.

HP

Downstairs in the kitchen, Sirius and Hermione were having hot cocoa. "There is nothing better than hot cocoa to help you calm down to sleep." Sirius sighed as he closed his eyes while he enjoyed the beverage.

"Yeah. I know."

"How are you doing with finding your parents, sweets?" Sirius asked lazily, not wanting to show how concerned he was.

"Well, I'm doing great. I haven't spent a lot of time with them these last years, so it's been fun getting to know them again. I really like that Harry, you and Dad get along. That makes life so much easier."

"I know you were worried when they went out that first night together." He smiled.

"How'd you know?"

"It was obvious when you began pacing after they were gone for two hours." He laughed as she grinned embarrassedly.

"Yeah, I was terrified they'd hate each other." Hermione laughed. "It was really funny when they came home and Dad was 100 sterling lighter." Both Sirius and she laughed.

"Yeah. We know not to play Harry at pool for money now."

"How're you doing Sirius? You've gone from Azkaban to being a fugitive to being cooped up in Grimmauld to free in a few years and you've lost both your best friends." Hermione was concerned about his mental health.

"I think I'm surviving. Having Teddy and Harry here helps. I need something to occupy my time or I think about all the horrors I've been through. It's why I was so depressed at Grimmauld."

"Would you like to go see a mind healer? We call them Psychologists in the mundane world." She was concerned.

"I don't want to see a wizard but I suppose I should."

"Why don't you try a magical but if you don't like it maybe we can find a squib or muggleborn that practices in our world." She suggested gently.

"That sounds like a good plan. Sometimes you surprise me Hermione. You have this amazingly big heart AND a big brain." He got up and sat next to Hermione. He then took her in his arms. "I don't think you realise it but I truly do think of you as my Goddaughter. You saved my life because it was the right thing to do. You don't understand how rare that is." He held her at arm's length and kissed her on the forehead. "Thank you for taking care of my son when he needed it most."

"You're welcome" she smiled at the man she was beginning to think of as her favorite Uncle. She got up and said softly. "I think I'm going to bed now." She went up to her room and eventually fell asleep.

**Saturday 16 May 1998**

Saturday and Sunday were both very relaxed days. Everyone had lunch together—even the Grangers—on Saturday. It was after lunch that Emma asked to see the whole property. She had only been in the Pavilion once or twice for parties and wanted to see the rest. It was also a good time to have a talk with her daughter.

"So, do you plan on living here the entire summer?" Emma asked as they toured the house.

"Yes Mum." Hermione replied carefully. "I am almost 19. I've fought in battles. I need my own space. It's why we moved here. I want to stay close to you so I can see you without living with you. When Harry and I have kids, we'll move to one of the other houses so we're separate but close enough."

"So you're serious about him then?"

"Yes mum. Watching him being brought from the forest dead was a wake-up call. I realised, I had been settling for Ron because then I wouldn't lose Harry's friendship if anything went wrong." She responded as they went outside. They walked out of the kitchen onto the stone patio that went out past the balcony upstairs so that it would get some light. Off to the left there was a walkway to the indoor pool. "We should buy an outdoor kitchen to put out on the patio," she muttered, putting it on her mental To Do list.

They walked out to the larger house. "This one is nice." Emma said. "Very open." They walked around. "So what happened with Ron? I know you kissed him during the battle. What happened afterward?"

"Well, he got jealous. Told Harry he was stealing Ron's girl. Basically, made an arse of himself." Hermione sighed. "Then at Charlie's funeral, he refused to be a pall bearer because Arthur had asked Harry. So, Arthur took his place instead of sitting with Molly, which is why they'd asked Harry—Arthur didn't want to be a pall bearer at his own son's funeral."

"I can see that." Emma went into the kitchen. "Oh. This is big!" She turned around. "I like this." She remarked as they went out the back door and onto the third house. As they left the third house after looking around, Emma said, "I guess you haven't seen them since the funeral then."

"No. I was thinking of inviting most Weasleys, Neville and Luna over for Quidditch tomorrow because they'll have the goals up today and Harry will be anxious to play."

"You really think they'll get the pitch set up today?" Emma asked incredulously.

"If Daddy had your permission to put a football pitch on our property, do you think it'd be installed in a day?"

Emma snorted. "You know your father. Of course."

"Well Sirius and Harry are the same way about Quidditch and they have magic to help." Hermione snorted as they came back in the main house's kitchen and saw Sirius and Harry setting out with several medium sized boxes. "You just got back from Quality Quidditch?" She asked.

"Yep." Harry replied on his way out.

"We're going to go set the pitch up now." Sirius was beyond excited. "Come on Harry!" He yelled from near where the Pitch would be. Harry gave Hermione a peck on the cheek and hurried out with a big grin on his face.

"Men!" Hermione and Emma said simultaneously, then broke into laughter. Dan came over a few minutes later and brought the wizards beer as they worked on the Pitch together. Although Emma, Hermione or Tonks didn't even think of going out there while the construction occurred, they could hear riotous laughter as they sat on the patio and drank tea.

"You know Hermione, if you want everyone to come over tomorrow, we should order that outdoor kitchen today to see if it can be installed by tomorrow." Emma suggested.

"Then let's go." Hermione looked at both her mum and Tonks. "You can bring Teddy." She added for Tonks. Teddy was sleeping in the papoose she was wearing.

"Great. Let's go." Tonks smiled.

**Sunday 17 May 1998**

Sunday was an eventful day because The Madhouse, as it was called because that was its floo designation, played host to all alive Weasleys except Ronald, along with Percy's girlfriend Audrey, Neville, Augusta and Luna.

When everyone arrived, they all headed to the pitch where there were 12 Firebolts and 2 Nimbus' awaiting play. Neville and Hermione stayed out while the rest played four on four. No beaters and one less chaser.

While Neville and Hermione were watching the game, the older generation were seated near the pitch in the picnic area next to the outdoor kitchen next to the Pavilion.

"So now that you're back from Australia Sirius, are you going to join Wizengamot on a regular basis?" Augusta asked.

"Yes." Sirius grumbled. "I've got to take over from my father and try to right my family legacy."

"They decided to reorganize Wizengamot seating this week."

"How?" He asked skeptically.

"Well, if the head of house is deemed a death eater, the house is automatically stripped of its seat and cannot regain a seat for five generations."

"That's bold. Who suggested that?" Arthur asked.

"I did. I'm tired of the same evil families being cut all this slack."

"So what's happening to their money?" Sirius asked. "That's another way we need to bring them down."

"This hasn't been decided yet but I and a few others are proposing that each family of a death eater with an heir old enough to take on the Role of Head of House be fined half their vault and the heir for five generations gets access to only a portion of their money. My suggestion was 10%. People are leaning towards 50%. The vaults with no heir are cleaned out. And those with a not-of-age-heir gets 5%. Again, people are leaning towards 25%."

"What happens to the confiscated money?" Dan requested.

"That goes into a fund designed to help both muggles and magicals get back on their feet and to fund the government."

Sirius grinned. "Malfoy money being used to help muggles restart. Awesome!"

Everyone laughed. "There are going to be lots of empty seats on the Wizengamot and we have no idea how to fill them." Augusta warned. "I believe that is the next big battle that we'll have."

"Speaking of battles, I was thinking about having Ted Tonks teach Harry about his Inheritance this summer. What it's made up of, how it's used, all that stuff. Would you like him to work with Neville as well?" Sirius offered.

"I'm assuming that is Andromeda Black's husband?"

"Yes. I hired him to take over the Black account when I realised how undermanaged it was. The Goblins were just letting it sit, so while we were in Australia, he was familiarizing himself with our accounts and is planning to teach Harry."

Augusta took a moment to think about it. "If you wouldn't mind, that would be helpful. Neville doesn't seem to want to learn it from me. Maybe if he learns from someone outside the family he'd listen."

Emma laughed at this. "A child never behaves for their parent as well as they will for a stranger. It's that unconditional love thing. They know you'll love them even if they misbehave. They're not sure about anyone else. At least that was my mother-in-law's theory."

Augusta laughed. "Yes. That about sums it up."


	5. Chapter 5

**Ch. 5**

**Monday 18 May 1998**

The next morning, the day of the Malfoys' trial, came all too quickly for Harry. Just like an alarm clock, Teddy woke Harry up at six in the morning. He groaned and turned over to put his glasses on. _There's got to be a better way to correct my sight than these bloody glasses,_ he thought as he got out of bed to rescue Teddy.

"Come here little man." Harry groaned as he pulled his godson out of his Dogfather's arm. "Let's go clean you up." He took Teddy to his room where there was now a changing table and rocker next to the fireplace. Harry noticed this on Saturday morning as he was stumbling out of bed. Apparently, Tonks thought because Harry did morning time with Teddy, she'd make it easier. There was also a kid's bath tub in the shower now too. These additions made life a lot easier for Harry.

As he changed Teddy's nappy, Harry began to talk. "You know little man, today I have to go sit in on a trial for Malfoy and his dad." He paused to make sure the nappy wouldn't come off. "I don't know if I'm going to have to testify or not but I really don't want to." He settled down to feed the baby. "I don't want to be anywhere near those arses but I need to see this through. I really wish you could be there bud. I can't feel bad when I'm holding you but babies aren't allowed. If they were, you'd be there all day with me." Harry emphasized as he burped the monster. "I'm just glad that Hermione's going to be there. I don't know what I'd do if I had to do all this without _both_ my supports. Your Aunt Hermione is the only person that can keep me calm. She's my life, my world. If you find someone like that Teddy, even if it's at 11, don't let go. And for Merlin's sake, tell her as soon as possible. Okay kiddo, time for a bath." He said as he undressed himself and Ted and went into the en suite. He didn't see the look of love that Hermione was giving them as she watched the love of her life talk to his Godson about her. She didn't realise it but she was crying as she went downstairs. She had gone in thinking Harry could use some help getting ready but she walked into _that_ conversation. As soon as she realised what they were talking about, she couldn't interrupt-but she couldn't leave either.

When she got to the kitchen, she saw Tonks sipping coffee. "I went into Harry's room to help with Ted, yeah?" Hermione began fixing her own coffee.

"Everything okay?" Tonks asked as her head bobbed up quickly and her hair went back to its natural brown.

"Yeah. He's in the shower with him right now. But I walked in and he's talking to Ted about me and giving him advice about girls. It was so adorable." She sighed as she sat down to drink the coffee.

"That's cute." Tonks agreed. "I'm glad he's talking to someone." They sat there in silence while Dobby cooked.

A little while later, Sirius, Harry and Teddy joined them for breakfast. "Tonks, I was wondering if you wanted to come into the Ministry for lunch?" Harry asked.

"You don't want to see me. You just want Teddy." She smiled as he went red. After a minute, she relented. "I'll come by after his Healer visit." She laughed at his relieved expression.

"Thanks." He replied as he looked at his Godson. He didn't see the look of bemusement Tonks and Hermione exchanged.

After looking through the Prophet and seeing the schedule of trials, Sirius finished eating and was ready to leave. "Harry, Hermione we've got to leave. Trials start in 30 minutes." He said as everyone went to the sitting room to use the floo.

The three arrived in the Atrium and were greeted with the hustle and bustle of the ministry. There were a lot of people pointing and whispering as they walked by.

"If they're going to whisper, they should make sure no one can overhear what they're saying." Harry said loudly to Hermione when it got too much for him. Hermione and Sirius laughed as the whispers became quieter. "That's better." He praised loudly again.

"Passive aggressive much?" Sirius sniggered as they got into the lift.

"It worked." Harry smirked. "If they want to talk to me, talk. If they want to talk about me at least do it so I can't hear."

As they got off the lift, Madam Bones joined them. "Hello everyone." She said as they discussed things like the weather for a few minutes. Finally, she came around to what she wanted. "I know that you don't want to testify, Lord Potter. I just wanted to let you know that I'm going to try to make sure you don't have to. I may need your testimony though if we feel we haven't built a strong enough case. Is there anything you can think of that we might want to ask Lucius or Draco?"

"I don't know if this can be asked. However, I would be interested if he took the mark voluntarily."

"That's already down." She laughed. "I want to know too."

"I figure that answer will be interesting, to say the least." Sirius submitted as a bell rang and Amelia left. "Now you kids will sit in the prospective witness box while I will be at my regular seat." Sirius took them over to sit with many fighters from the Battle such as the Weasley twins, Arthur, Neville and Luna among others. "See you soon." Sirius squeezed Harry's shoulder as he left.

"You know," Harry said to Hermione. "This is where I was tried. Nice to see that bastard here instead." He was looking over at Lucius in the seat of honor. Malfoy was dressed in striped prison robes. He looked like he hadn't shaved or combed his hair since the battle. He looked a lot more emaciated than his usual thin frame did. The one thing that was unmistakable was the distinctive Malfoy sneer adorning his face.

"You'd think that he wouldn't be sneering, seeing where he is." Nev whispered to Harry and Hermione.

"He believes he'll get off." Hermione said assuredly. "I'm sure his wife has greased some palms, as they say."

"Order. Order in the court." The bailiff proclaimed as everyone calmed down.

Charges were read. He pleaded not guilty to everything. And the questioning began.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we will be using Veritaserum on Mr. Malfoy to get to the bottom of these allegations. The defendant has been on flushing potions since his capture to make sure any anti-Veritaserum potions have been removed from his system." Amelia began.

"Look at the look on his face Harry." Hermione whispered and pointed. Harry looked over and saw the horrified expression on his face.

He chuckled at that. "Planning on lying his way out of it, the same as last time." Everyone around him nodded.

"Are you a Death Eater Mr. Malfoy?" Amelia asked.

"N-N-Yes."

"How did you get the dark mark?"

"I killed a few muggles, no one to worry about." He said proudly. Many gasped at the callous attitude.

"So you were not Imperioused to take the Mark?"

"You can't be. It's soul magic. If you don't actively want it, it doesn't take."

"Why did you follow Voldemort?"

"He wanted to rid the world of filth."

"Filth?"

"Yes. Muggles, Muggleborns, creatures, half-breeds. So only those of pure-blood remained." Harry looked around and saw the horror-stricken looks on peoples' faces. _Well, now they see the bastard for who he really is,_ Harry thought.

"When you were captured at the ministry in June of 1996, why were you there?"

"To gain access to the prophecy about my master and the filthy half-blood Potter."

"What did the prophecy say?" Harry grabbed on to Hermione for dear life. He didn't want anyone knowing.

"I don't know. It was broken in the fight." Harry let go of Hermione as she wiggled movement back into her hand.

"What were you to do with the students who came with Lord Potter?"

"Kill them."

Soon they were done with Malfoy and interrogated Neville and Luna about the Department of Mysteries and the Battle of Hogwarts. Several more testified that they were Crucio'd by Malfoy.

Testimonies and cross-examinations were done at 12.00. The six friends decided to meet Tonks for lunch while Sirius went to decide Malfoy's fate. Apparently, they decided the life or death issue of a man's fate over a nice lunch.

When the teens got to the dining hall, they found Tonks waiting for them. Harry simply came up to her and stole Teddy and began cuddling the little man. "Hey! I'm here too you know!" Tonks groused.

Harry just looked up absently, "Oh hi Tonks." He said as went to go get food.

"So Tonks, how'd Teddy's appointment go?" Luna asked.

"Oh it went fine. He's over three and a half kilograms. According to the Healer, he can start to sleep through the night at five and a half kilos. So, how'd the trial go?" Tonks asked as they got in line for food.

"Exhausting." Hermione sighed. "He wasn't even sorry for what he did. He seemed actually proud, even under Veritaserum."

"He's a truly disgusting person." Neville contributed.

"I could've told you that before the trial but seeing him admit it all was-distasteful." Luna added.

They stopped talking until they had gotten their food and sat down. "What I can't believe is how many people they got to stand up and tell their stories. Did you know he crucio'd a toddler to make his parents do what Malfoy wanted?" Hermione looked disturbed.

Sirius came up to them a little while later. "Decision's been made. Gather in the courtroom in 10." He said as he headed back out. Everyone pushed out and cleared their places.

"Well, I'm going home. I'll see you kids later." Tonks took Teddy back from Hermione as they went back to the courtroom.

It was at the first 'Guilty' to being a Death Eater that caused Harry to relax and brought an actual smile to his face. He leaned over to Hermione. "It's over." She nodded. After the 10 more charges being declared Guilty, they were all happy. The blight of Lucius Malfoy was to be wiped from the ministry. The kids didn't really think of how far that wiping would go until they got to the sentencing.

"We, the Wizengamot, declare that Lucius Malfoy of the House Malfoy will be sentenced to death by the Veil for the deeds he has committed against our community. It will take place at midnight tonight. May Merlin have mercy on your soul." Amelia stated. "Court is in recess for 20 minutes before the trial of Draco Malfoy."

"Oh my Gods." Hermione Whispered.

"Oh Merlin." Luna muttered.

"Thank the Gods." Neville said loudly.

"Good riddance to bad rubbish." Harry muttered as everyone got up to leave the courtroom. The look of shock on Malfoy's face was satisfying to a part of Harry's mind. He didn't like to hand out death sentences but if anyone deserved it, the Death Eaters did.

When they left the courtroom and were on the lift, Harry said. "Let's go home. I don't want to watch Draco's trial. We'll hear about it tonight from Sirius."

"Sure." Hermione, Neville and Luna replied.

"You guys coming with us?" Hermione inquired.

"Yes please." Nev said desperately. "If I show up at home this early, Gran will have told the elves to sit me down and talk about my properties. It's bloody boring. I'll pass." The rest laughed at Neville's fearful gaze.

"Well, you're always welcome here Nev. Even if it is to get away from work!" Harry laughed as he floo'd home. When they got there, they all headed up to the game room. As the boys racked up the balls for pool, the girls sat down in a small sitting area, turned on the radio and summoned butterbeer from the bar.

"I thought I'd turn up the radio so we could talk." Hermione explained. She had grown quite fond of Luna over the past few years. Although Luna believed in a lot of animals that were at least rare, if not imaginary, when you got past that façade, she was a very real, loyal, honest and good friend. And quite frankly, after the year she and Harry had just had, those qualities were more important than some weird beliefs.

"Oh, and what did you think we might need the radio on for?" Luna grinned.

"Well, I wanted to know how it was going with our Neville." Hermione grinned suggestively. "I mean you came to Remus' funeral with him. Are you two dating?"

"Yes. Thank Merlin everything is going to plan. Do you know he brought me to meet his parents in St. Mungo's? Daddy and I have had Nev and Augusta over for dinner twice. I go to Longbottom Manor nearly every day."

Hermione was a little skeptical that the formidable Lady Longbottom got along with Xeno. "So how well do your dad and Lady Longbottom get along?"

Luna snorted. "They don't really unless they're talking politics, which they are wont to do."

"I just can't see them sitting at dinner together." Hermione laughed.

"I'll tell you, it's weird having any guy that's not Daddy care for me the way Nev does. What? We've been dating about 2 weeks? I'm still pinching myself that he cares for me that way."

"I know. It's been strange as Harry and I moved from best friend to boyfriend/girlfriend. Sometimes I look at him, especially when he's caring for his Godson, that I think 'Wow he's really mine'." Hermione said dreamily.

HP

Over at the pool table, while Hermione and Luna were talking, Harry brought the Carrows up to Neville. "Nev, I know the Carrow siblings are being tried tomorrow. I wasn't at school when that happened but I know you got hurt. As your friend, do you want me there or would you prefer I not come?"

Neville didn't answer for quite a while. When he did, it was with a determination in his voice Harry hadn't heard except in battle. "Yes. I'd like you there. Partially because I'd like Hermione to be there for Luna, partly because I'd like you to hear what happened."

"Okay. We'll be there." Harry stated firmly.

"You don't have to check with her?" Neville grinned.

"No. She'll want to be there for Luna."

They were racking up the balls when Tonks came in with Teddy. Harry left the table to take his Godson. "You're just leaving me here cause you've got a baby?" Neville teased Harry.

"Sorry. My Godson comes first." He grinned as he unwrapped Teddy to play under his play gym. Because his little arms couldn't reach the toys, Harry charmed them to move lower so Teddy could actually play with them.

As Nev and Harry sat on the floor with Teddy, Luna and Tonks played pool while Hermione watched. This lasted for a little while before Sirius showed up. He had obviously changed because he was now wearing jeans, a t-shirt and work boots.

"Hey everyone. How are you doing?" He asked. Harry was sitting feeding his little man but looked up at that.

"What was the verdict?" Harry returned.

Sirius sat down with everyone in the cozy seating area. "Death." He said simply. "You should know that it was close during sentencing. A lot wanted life without parole because he was a minor when he took the mark but those of us who had seen the last war felt death was more just." Sirius felt he needed to explain.

Everyone just nodded their head. It was an understandable decision. Harry didn't have to like it but he couldn't really disagree either.

Soon Nev and Luna left and they went down to dinner. The Grangers came over around six to have dinner with the little family. When they heard what the sentences were, Dan's only response was a shrug and to state, "Couldn't have happed to a more deserving pair from what you all tell me of them."

"Dan!" Emma scolded.

"He's got the right of it, Emma. There are some people that can't be saved. I wouldn't be surprised if all the Death Eaters get Death as punishment." Sirius returned.

**Tuesday 19 May 1998**

The next day, Sirius, Hermione and Harry wended their way to Courtroom 10 for the Carrows' trial. While Neville, Luna, Ginny, Seamus, Terry Boot, Hannah Abbott and Susan Bones and several others he knew by sight all sat together in the potential witness box, Harry and Hermione sat with the spectators.

This trial started out more like he'd expected yesterday. The charges were read: torture 30 counts, rape 5 counts, child endangerment 350 counts, and several others. The list had Hermione crying in Harry's chest as his knuckles grew whiter and whiter as the list kept growing. With the vast experience Harry had had with clamping down on his anger in the past few years, he ruthlessly clamped down once again. As he came back to the present, he became aware that Hermione was crying on his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her and kept saying. "I'm here love. They're all safe now. I'm here." Soon her crying subsided as she just sniffled.

Seamus took the stand first. "You have to understand that we were being 'taught' that mixing with half-bloods or muggles makes for retardation, deformities, and squibs. We were told the only way to keep wizards pure was to only breed with other purebloods. When I asked when her brother was going to get her pregnant, _Professor Carrow_ crucio'd me. That was the first week of school." And he went on with how some folks took to setting traps for the Carrows and they'd be crucio'd or Imperioused to hurt themselves.

Next was Neville's turn. He told of how he and Terry put up in the Great Hall on the wall behind the head table Harry Lives. "Needless to say, we got away free and clear. The next day, Snape made the announcement that if the responsible party didn't come forward by dinner, two random first year girls would be flogged in front of the whole school as 'afters'. Terry and I copped to it. Alecto and Amycus took turns flogging us, then attached us to the wall so we couldn't sit and left us there all night. Each day, breakfast, lunch and dinner we were flogged, for 2 days. We didn't get any food for that time. They kept us up there until Alecto said she was bored." He turned around, pulled up his shirt and said, "Here's what I came away with last year." Everyone saw the slash marks on his back. A gasp ran through the room at this.

Luna talked next about being crucio'd nearly once a week, being raped by Amycus 3 times "Although the third time, I think I might have castrated him as I had brought a knife and was able to get it out." She said casually.

It was a truly eye-opening experience for Harry and Hermione to listen to their friends talk about this brutality as though that's just how life is. At the end of the trial, both siblings admitted to everything and the verdict was unanimous and nearly instantaneous—they were out in less than half an hour. Guilty on all counts and death through the Veil.

HP

Like the previous day, the four teens ended up at the Madhouse in the game room. Unfortunately, they were so tired by their day, they didn't talk and play. They sat on the couches and fell asleep in their boyfriend/girlfriends' arms.

By the time Sirius came home after a long day of listening to horrible testimonies—by children no less—about what was done at Hogwarts, he was exhausted. After talking to Tonks, he headed upstairs to see how the teens were. When he arrived, he had to stop the chuckle that wanted to burst free in case he woke the sleeping teens. He very quietly went back downstairs to the kitchen where he found Dora, Teddy and Dobby talking.

Dora looked up at Sirius. "Where are the kids?" She inquired.

"Sleeping." Sirius finally let the chuckle out. "They are up there sleeping on two of the sofas. Out like a lantern. Each couple wrapped up in each other. It's so saccharin cute, it's scary." Dobby and Dora laughed. Sirius became much more solemn. "It was a bad day for them. The testimonies were hard to listen to—I can't imagine they were easy to give. But every one of those kids stood up and gave their testimony, without flinching. The things they endured were horrendous. At least when we were kids, school was safe. Not for them. They were crucio'd on a regular basis Dora."

Dora looked at Sirius and was worried. He looked horrible. For her fun loving, always joking cousin to be so, well, serious was a side no one really saw of him. "It's not your fault Sirius. And they all survived. Maybe a little bent but not broken as far as I can see."

"I know. I just wish there was more I could do."

"There is." Sirius raised an eyebrow at that. "Do everything you can to make a better world for them and Teddy." She said firmly.

He groaned. "You mean _politics,_ right?"

Dora grinned because she knew how much Sirius hated that word and what it represented. "Yeah, I do."

"I know, I know. The problem is that you've got to be nice to people with reprehensible ideas. I'm a Gryffindor not a Slytherin. I don't hold to those views and I usually have trouble holding in my disgust." He scowled at the idea of those beliefs.

"I know. But you don't have to get along with them per se. Make Alliances with old Potter Allies." She suggested.

"You know, there are sometimes when I remember why you caught Moony's fancy. You're smart but you hide it well." Sirius laughed when Dora hit him. After such a horrible day, this is exactly what he needed.

"Idiot." She grumbled as she found another butterbeer at her elbow. She looked over at Dobby. "How do you do that? Know exactly what I want before I do."

"Elf magic." Both Dobby and Sirius stated as they all laughed.

"Don't worry cuz. I asked him the same thing last night and that was his answer." Padfoot went on to explain.

The kids came down about half an hour later. As Neville was about to leave, Sirius came into the sitting room. "Hey, Neville. Can I have a word?"

"Sure Sir." Neville looked a little hesitant as he kissed Luna good bye. He turned around as Harry and Hermione went to leave them alone.

"Hey, I need to talk to you too." He smiled at Harry as the two men sat. "Don't worry. Nobody's in trouble." He laughed at the kids' nervous look. "I talked to your Gran Neville, and I am planning on having Harry learn everything about his holdings as the Head of House Potter this summer so he can take some responsibility for it. Augusta says that you have not been able or willing to learn about your own holdings from her." At this Neville grimaced and Sirius and Harry laughed. "What I proposed is that you and Harry learn together from Ted Tonks, my cousin's husband who is an Estate Manager at Gringotts. He's held the Potter account since Jamie took over as Lord when Monty died. Augusta has authorized him access to the Longbottom accounts to accommodate this. This will start next week for both of you. Are you up for that?"

"I don't have a bloody choice. Gran'll have my head if I don't. You never, ever say no to Gran." He shrugged.

"I've heard that before. Your dad's favorite refrain when he got roped into one of our pranks was 'Mum _cannot _hear about this. She'll have my head.' Apparently, it was not appropriate for the heir of House Longbottom to be associated with such juvenile things as pranks." Sirius laughed. "We took the blame a few times so he wouldn't get into trouble." He looked at the gobsmacked Neville and Harry. "What's wrong?" He asked confused.

"You knew my parents?" Neville whispered.

"You didn't know that?" Sirius was stunned. How could he not know basic things about his parents? "Yeah. We were in the same year as Alice and a year below Frankie."

"Frankie?"

"Yeah. We tried calling him Francis our first night but he could be intimidating when he wanted. James did it once—never again." Sirius laughed at the memory "Alice and Lily became the best of friends and Frankie and James were besotted with each of them from first day. They, however, couldn't give the guys the time of day." Sirius grinned nostalgically. "Did your Gran never tell you things about your parents?"

"Nothing except the basics. Stories about when Dad was young and how great an auror he was."

"Well, he was that. Jamie, Alice and I all worked with him. Do you know who your Godparents are?" He asked cautiously.

"No. Only that they're dead."

"Well, both of you are going to get a kick out of this. James and Lily are your God parents. And Harry, your Godmum is Alice."

Both boys looked at Sirius. "You're kidding." Harry croaked.

"Nope. Alice and Lily were that close. Joined at the bloody hip, they were."

"Does that mean I should've gone to live with Lady Longbottom instead of the _Dursleys_?" The venom with which he spat the name spoke volumes.

"Yes but Dumbledore knew best." Sirius said sarcastically, taking a minute to control his temper. "Don't worry Neville. I'll fill you in on your parents. I have so many stories, you won't know what hit you." He looked at the time and realised the Grangers would be here for dinner soon. "Well, you should head home Neville. We'll see you at the trial for Umbitch tomorrow." Sirius grinned when the two boys smiled at the name.

"See you later Godbrother." Neville grinned at Harry.

"Yeah Godbrother." Harry also grinned as Nev floo'd away. Harry walked out of the sitting room in a daze. Sirius could see that Harry was struggling with the information he'd received, so he set off to find the only person he could think would be able to help the boy—Hermione. He hadn't even considered what knowing who his Godmum was would do to his Godson. He'd been intent on giving Neville information. Thinking about it, after the fact, he could see how Harry would have one more thing to be pissed at Albus about with this new information. Hell, he was still pissed at Albus for the mistakes that had cost Harry and him so dearly.

He found Hermione in the kitchen holding Teddy. "Hermione, Harry's in the sitting room. He may need you. He just found out who his Godmum is, and it's not good."

Hermione's eyes widened as she began to hand Teddy back. "No. Take him. He seems to calm Harry down." Tonks smiled.

"Right." Hermione smiled at the thought. "Come on little man. Let's go see how your Goddaddy is doing." She left the kitchen, walked across the rear entrance hall to the sitting room. He wasn't there. She looked in the drawing room which was empty. She wondered if she should check the study. She knew he didn't spend much time there but decided to check. He was sitting at his desk, staring at the fireplace. He was brooding. She needed to nip it in the bud so she sat down across from him. "So, Sirius told me you found out who your Godmum is. Is it that bad?" She asked lightly.

He smiled at that as he looked at his girlfriend, her eyes worried for him. "No. It's Nev's mum." He heard her intake of breath. She came around the desk and put her arm around him.

"I'm so sorry love." She whispered.

"What is really pissing me off is Dumbledore knew and still put me with my _relatives_." He snorted. "As though putting me there was safe. Starved, beaten, told I was worthless. When I could've had a brother."

"Well, you can now. And you have your Godfather, Godson, and Aunt of sorts, and me. And oh yeah, my mum and dad too." She counted them off on her fingers. As she got to the end, he was smiling.

"You're saying not to look back, to look forward?" He asked.

"Exactly." She plopped Teddy in his arms. "I think that one is getting hungry." She stated the obvious as he was rooting for a breast. They got up.

"Better find Dora." Harry smiled at his godson as the little man reached out to him. They walked into the kitchen and saw everyone at the table, including the Grangers. "Dora, this one's doing that rooting thing." Harry said as he handed Ted off and sat down at his seat.

"So, how did today go?" Emma asked gently, already having gotten the rundown from Sirius but wanting to hear it from Harry and Hermione.

"Terrible Mum. While we were hiding at Grimmauld, our friends were being tortured at school." Hermione offered.

"You can't hold yourself responsible love. You did what you had to to end it. You couldn't be everywhere." Dan countered.

"We know. But it was still hard—listening to the tales." Harry contended.

"Well, if it helps, they're both being put to death tonight." Sirius consoled.

Harry looked gratefully at his Godfather. Besides Hermione, this man was the one human who had stood by him no matter what. "Thanks Padfoot. Thanks for everything you've done for me." He looked into Padfoot's grey eyes trying to tell him how much he appreciated his Godfather without embarrassing himself. Sirius seemed to understand what he was trying to say because he simply nodded. "I think tomorrow afternoon I'm going to see my Godmum."

"Oh. I didn't know you had one." Emma commented. "Hermione's only talked about Sirius."

"Well, I am the Great Sirius Black. Of course, she'd talk about me!" he preened as they all laughed.

"Oh. I thought it was because we didn't know he had a Godmum until today." Hermione said.

"You say potato, I say pahtaho." He replied.

"My Godmum is Neville's mum. She's in the hospital for permanent brain damage. She was tortured into insanity after I vanquished Voldemort as a baby." Harry answered Emma. "Dumbledore hid me at my Aunt's before they could claim me."

"Sounds to me he's a little like some of the religious nut jobs we have who think they're Jesus Christ reborn." Dan observed.

"You're not far off." Hermione noted. "Before his death, he was the leader of the legislative body of magical Britain—think of the House of Commons with the snootiness of the House of Lords. He was the Headmaster of the only wizarding school in Britain. And he was the head of the ICW—think NATO."

"How was he able to get that many titles? Isn't there some sort of idea that one person can't rule Britain?" Emma queried. "Even we muggles have a constitutional monarchy."

"He got them when he killed the last Dark Lord Grindelwald—a childhood friend of his if you believe Skeeter. After he ended that war, he was worshipped and given anything he wanted." Sirius explained. "Don't get me wrong, for the most part he brought more good to the world than bad. Somehow though, along the way, he forgot the trees through the forest. He began to believe that he knew what was best and compartmentalized so much that no one else ever had the full picture of his plans."

"Not even me." Harry continued the story. "He sat Sirius and me down after the DOM fiasco, where Sirius and Hermione just made it out alive, and told us that, because of a prophecy that was partially heard by one of Voldie's flunkies, Voldie felt he had to kill me. So my family went into hiding. We know the outcome of that—Voldie's gone, Sirius's in jail and I'm packed of to my relatives. After telling us about the prophecy, he spends the next school year teaching me about Tom and Horcruxes but not where they are or how to destroy them."

"And no one questions any of this?" Emma asked incredulously.

"I did. Believe me, I did. But he wouldn't tell us mortals anything." Sirius groused.

"That's when he died and I sent you to Australia so we could concentrate on the horcruxes." Hermione finished.

"Don't worry, Emma." Sirius replied. "I plan on helping change how much power one person has."

"How?"

"Legislation." After that they talked about more mundane things such as how the Grangers' day went.

After dinner, they watched some telly. Eventually, the Grangers headed home and the Madhouse went quiet for the night.

**Wednesday 20 May 1998**

The next day was Umbridge's trial. This was the teens last day of being at the Ministry and while they were very happy about that, they didn't want to testify. Again, they sat in the potential witness box with Neville, Luna, the Weasley twins and Ginny among others.

Several students testified about blood quill usage, the DA, the night the DA fell and other such things. Finally, though, it was Harry's turn. He was put under Veritaserum because he was of age, unlike some of the previous witnesses.

"What is your name?"

"Harry James Potter."

"How old are you?"

"17."

"You say a blood quill was used on you by Delores Umbridge, is that so?"

"Yes."

"When?"

"My first detention."

"When was this?"

"First day of class."

"Do you have any marks to show this?"

He held out his right fist where it said 'I must not tell lies'

"How long did this go on?

"At least two weeks."

They went over most of the detentions, then talked about the Muggleborn Registration Committee. In all, Harry's testimony took over two hours in itself. Every time he talked about the blood quill, Hermione looked at Sirius. He was getting angrier and angrier.

At 1.00, Harry, Luna, Hermione and Neville were all done with their testimony. They decided to eat at home rather than in the dining hall. They floo'd home and went to the kitchen. Dora and Dobby were there with Teddy.

"Hey guys. You look like Hell, you know that, right?" she said.

"Yeah." They all said dully.

"Here want to feed Teddy?" Tonks asked Harry.

"Sure." His face brightened as he fed his Godson. Everyone else ate their lunch as well.

After lunch, Neville said. "I think I'm going to go home for a nap."

"Don't you like sleeping on the couch upstairs Neville?" Harry asked as he put the asleep Ted in his bouncer.

"Not much." Nev grinned.

"Why don't you both come by around lunch tomorrow and we can hang out?" Hermione proposed. "We don't have to be at the ministry tomorrow so we can sleep in and then play upstairs or something?"

"Sure." They agreed as they left. Hermione and Harry walked into the telly area of the drawing room and Hermione laid her head on his lap and closed her eyes. Harry began playing with her hair.

"You know, it's really weird not to have Ron around but I'm really getting to like Neville and Luna. I think we can be close to them." She remarked.

"I know. I spent so much time rooming with him but I never got to know him as well as I could have. I don't think Ron wanted Nev butting into our friendship but I could be wrong. It's really nice to get to know them both though." He leaned down and kissed her passionately. "I am so tired. Want to come upstairs and take a nap?" He asked, a little dazed from the kiss.

"Sure." She said as she got up, took his hand and led him upstairs.

28


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N As I am waiting for my 15 year old daughter to come home from her boyfriend's tonight, I am looking through some of these chapters and realising how long they are. In later chapters, I've limited it to about 4000-5000 words, so I may break-up future chapters for ypu. Please let me know what you think.**

**Ch. 6**

**Thursday 21 May, 1998**

Hermione woke up first. Her head was still on his chest. Why couldn't her mind and heart get on the same page? Was there something wrong with her that she couldn't get them to agree? Or were things just moving too fast around her? Things had changed very suddenly for her in the last few weeks. In the last 18 days, she'd gained a boyfriend (not the one she'd thought for years she wanted), an Uncle, Aunt and pseudo-Godson. She'd moved in with this family, gone to Australia to find her parents, moved them home. She'd witnessed three trials and testified in one. That was a lot for one person. Maybe she had the right idea, taking her time.

"What are you so concerned about?" Harry muttered as his arm went around her tighter. She was biting her lower lip, so he knew something was wrong.

"Just thinking of all the changes. Do you realise it's been only 18 days since the battle?" She wondered.

"No. It seems like much longer but we've been busy."

She looked up at him. "I love you Harry."

"I love you too."

"Well, we better get up if we want dinner." Hermione added when it looked like Harry was going to fall back asleep. "I'm sure Teddy's up and feeling like playing." At that Harry's eyes sprung open and he started getting up. Hermione just laughed at her idiot's behavior.

"You did that on purpose, didn't you?" He queried as they walked down to the drawing room where they heard talking.

"Who? Me?" she asked innocently, her eyes sparkling. She wasn't able to hold it though and gave in to the laughter. "Of course, love. He's the only one that can get you up."

"Not the only one." He whispered as Hermione giggled as they walked in on Sirius, Tonks, and Minerva holding Teddy. Harry went over to take him when Hermione put her hand on his shoulder, clearly telling Harry to let Minerva play with Teddy. He shot an irritated look at her and sat down unhappily.

"What's wrong Harry?" Minerva asked. Sirius, Tonks and Hermione all burst out laughing

"Someone else is holding his Godson. He doesn't like it." Tonks answered, nearly snorting with laughter.

"Oh. So he's like Sirius was with him." Minerva smiled knowingly.

Sirius suddenly went red and stopped laughing, which made the other two laugh even more.

"James used to complain that whenever Sirius was around, he didn't get to hold his own son. Why, I remember Order meetings where Lily would hand Harry off at the beginning and Sirius would still have him at the end a few hours later. And Harry would be all tired out and fast asleep on Sirius' shoulder at that point." Minerva laughed at the guilty look Sirius had.

"So, you giving me a hard time about spending time with Ted is a bunch of bunk! You can leave off." Harry glared at Sirius. Sirius just smirked back.

"Hello, Hello." Everyone heard as the front door opened.

"In here Dan." Sirius yelled. "Do you have Em?"

"I'm here Sirius." Emma smiled as she walked in.

"Have you no manners Mr. Black?" Minerva scolded her old student in her 'Professor' voice.

Sirius bounced up and went to greet the newcomers with a terrified look on his face. He shook Dan's hand "Welcome to the Madhouse." He stated formally. He then kissed Emma's hand. "Welcome my dear." He then turned to Minerva and said petulantly "Better Professor?"

"Much." She replied primly as he let out a sigh as everyone laughed at the relief on his face.

"She's scary when she's in Professor mode." Sirius added.

"But it's when she uses that voice that you know she gives a da—hoot about you." Harry looked at Hermione as she nodded in approval of his change of language.

"Whipped." Sirius coughed.

"Shut that mouth." Minerva said sternly as she handed the baby to Harry when she stood. "I'd best be going. Like I said, if you would like to help with the rebuilding, we'll be at it all summer. So just come to the castle and we'll put you to work." She concluded as she floo'd away.

"Are all the fireplaces available for floo passage?" Emma asked as everyone settled back down.

"The bedrooms being used, the entrance room and in here are. The study is incoming only for now." Tonks answered since she was the one who hooked them up.

During dinner that night, they talked of Umbridge's trial and they learned her fate. "After you left, we debated endlessly. Many of the pureblood faction were for just a slap on the wrist—no time in Azkaban, just a fine. Others, like myself, thought death was too good for her but would settle for it. The middle ground we came up with was Azkaban for life." Sirius explained.

"I can live with that." Harry stated as Hermione nodded. "So was McGonagall here to get your help with the castle?"

"Yeah." Tonks said. "I think I'll go up Friday. Do you want to join me?"

"Why not?" Hermione replied.

"Why don't we talk to Nev and Luna and see if they'd like to join us?" Harry suggested.

"Sounds good. Then we can leave Teddy here with Sirius." Tonks looked at her cousin, who did not seem averse to this.

"I can live with that. I've got to train him as a Marauder—best to start early" Sirius smirked at the horrified looks on their faces.

"I was thinking I might take Harry, Luna and Neville for a walk down High Street tomorrow. Then maybe take them to Pizza Express. I doubt either one has had pizza before. What do you think mum?" Hermione asked.

"I think that's a great idea. You can show them what muggle window shopping is and how much fun it can be." Emma smiled.

After dinner, the little family watched a little telly and let the little man have tummy time-laying on Goddad's belly. Around 10, Harry took his Godson up to be fed and put down.

As they came down from the nursery, Harry got a little nervous. He had been throwing around an idea all afternoon, wondering if Hermione would agree or not. Finally, as they were sitting next to the fire in Harry's room, he looked down at their joined hands. "Would you like to sleep in here tonight? Just sleep, nothing else." He then admitted tentatively, "I really liked waking up with you this afternoon. I can see waking up with you in my arms every day and I like that feeling." He then looked up into the depths of her chocolate eyes and saw the love. . . but also fear.

She took his cheek in her hand. "Not yet. I'm not ready. It's not that I don't want to Harry. It's that I want to too much that I'm scared of what might happen. I love you so much and I can see us starting out just sleeping together. But after this afternoon, do you really think we could stop ourselves if we were that intimate? Really?" She gave him a sad smile.

He was quiet for a few minutes. She could see him come to a decision. "You'll tell me when?" He confirmed

"You'll be the first to know love." She leaned over and kissed him before she got up to leave. "I love you Harry."

"I love you too." He replied as she closed the door.

**Thursday 21 May 1998**

The next morning, Harry and Teddy went to the kitchen after their morning routine. Harry put Teddy in his bouncer on the island and began breakfast for everyone. He hadn't cooked in so long because he didn't seem to have time. Today, however, he'd decided to beat Dobby to the kitchen. He really missed cooking. Of course, it was always nicer to do something when you know it will be appreciated and you get to taste what you've cooked. In Harry's case, he was really looking forward to that.

As he started getting ingredients and putting them on the island he said "Don't worry Ted. I'll teach you how to do this when you're older—just not as young as I was." He snorted. "I understand that girls especially like breakfast in bed, so you and I will have to do that for Hermione. Maybe we can do it for your mum too for her birthday." If anyone was watching, they would have thought a master chef was cooking, he was moving around the kitchen so effortlessly, keeping everything at different stages so it all came out at the same time. As he kept moving, he noticed that Teddy was tracking him loads better than usual. "Are you already growing up, little man? I mean, you seem more alert each time you're awake and you seem to be concentrating more. I really wish I had access to my dad or yours—at least they were fathers and could teach me how to handle helping to raise you. Your dad asked me to take over in his place if he didn't survive but I'm not sure I know how to do it." He paused in his cooking to lean down and kiss his godson. "I love you, kiddo. Maybe I should get some parenting books. That's what Aunt Hermione would do and we all know she's smart." Harry just kept up a stream of consciousness babble with Teddy. "You know, your Aunt Hermione is amazing and I love her so much. I want to spend the rest of my life loving her. I just hope she'll let me. I can't imagine my life without her." He sighed while he was flipping the bacon. "You know, Granddad Dan asked me if I wanted to marry her and I answered quickly but the more time I think about it, the more my answer feels right. I wanna ask her this summer." He looked down at his little man. "Maybe she'll say yes if you help me." He paused his speech when he heard people coming down the stairs.

Sirius was the first one in. "Smells good kid. Can we eat?" He asked

"Where's everyone else?" He replied.

"We're here." Hermione and Dora returned in unison.

"Can someone set the table?" They turned at the crack of Dobby entering the room.

"Sorry Master Dogfather, Harry Potter Sir. I was plucking apricots and forgot the time."

"That's okay, Dobby. I wanted to cook this morning." Harry assured the little guy. "Come sit down." He waved to the table Dora had made.

As they sat down, Dora asked. "So, why'd you cook this morning Harry?"

"I haven't cooked in a year and I wanted to. For my _real_ family, not my relatives." He shrugged.

"Well, this is really good Harry." Sirius grinned as he took more bacon. "Bacon—Merlin's gift to humanity." He mumbled as everyone laughed. When the table was quiet, Sirius said. "Tomorrow Harry, I'd like to take you to Gringotts and have you declared my heir. I want to make sure that it's all legal. I'd also like to introduce you and Neville to Ted who's going to help you get a handle on your finances. Maybe we'll have Nev meet us there."

"Sure thing. Although I'd appreciate it if you stayed alive to at least long enough to meet our children." Harry waved at Hermione. At her blush, he realised what he said and hastily added. "As long as she's willing." He noticed a minute nod and his heart leapt. Sirius and Dora laughed at the blushes growing on the teens faces.

HP

That afternoon, the quartet of friends decided to apparate to High Street and window shop. The sexes separated as the girls went into the boutiques and the boys went into sports stores.

"So how is everything going with you and Harry?" Luna asked Hermione.

"Great. I think we're finally over the issues of moving from best friends to potential lovers." She smiled as she looked at some pretty lingerie. She looked up at Luna and motioned her over. "Last night, he asked me to move into his room. Then this morning, he was talking to Sirius and he mentioned Sirius being around for our children. We've not really talked about the future except very casually. This seemed more permanent to me." She sighed as she chose some matching undergarments and a blue teddy.

"Sounds like he wants to move things along to me." Luna smiled happily for her friend. "Have you decided to move in yet?"

"I don't know." Hermione had a very thoughtful look on her face.

"It seems like you've made up your mind." She nodded to the lingerie Hermione was now standing in line to buy. Hermione looked down and it came like a bolt of lightning. _I'm ready_ she thought with a newfound confidence.

She began smiling as she looked at Luna. "I think I have." She said with wonder in her voice. "I feel as though a weight had been lifted off of me. I don't know. It's like my heart has always known what it wants but finally convinced my brain to agree. Maybe talking it out has helped." She grinned at Luna as she purchased the items.

"I knew dragging you in there was the right idea." Luna looked smugly at Hermione.

"Did you plan that?" Hermione was incredulous.

"Not really but I had an idea you needed to talk. You've been a little distracted today. So, I thought I would get you talking and see where it went."

Hermione just shook her head as they went in search of their men. After finding them, she took everyone to Pizza Express for a late lunch.

"Neville, I know you don't really eat much non-English food but this dish was originally Italian and was changed by the Americans. It's really good. You'll love it." Hermione assured both purebloods. And they did, Luna going so far as to talk to the bakers about how they made it. Like any good Ravenclaw, she was taking notes on napkins as they talked. The baker even invited her back to watch the baking process earlier in the day sometime.

While Luna was busy grilling the baker, the other three just sat there patiently talking amongst themselves. "I guess this is what I get for dating a Ravenclaw—always interested in new knowledge." Neville mock moaned as they laughed.

"At least it's not as bad as your friend getting an idea, and she abandons what she's doing to run to the library." Harry pointed to Hermione.

"Well, that's saved us plenty of time!" Hermione huffed.

"I know love. I'm just taking the mickey. You know I love that about you." Harry laughed as he hugged his girlfriend. "I've learned to appreciate those library runs because they _have_ saved us."

"Okay." Luna skipped up to them. "I'm coming back on Tuesday at 11."

Nev laughed as he wrapped his arm around Luna and mumbled. "That's my girl."

They left the restaurant and apparated to the Madhouse. When they arrived, they heard Teddy screaming bloody murder from upstairs. Harry muttered "See ya later, guys" as he took the stairs two at a time, worried about Teddy. He heard Nev say "And he's off like a broomstick! He worries more about that boy than any kid our age should have to."

"He's my Godson!" Harry yelled back as they all laughed.

He got upstairs and burst into Dora's room. She was sitting there in the rocker trying to get Teddy to eat. "Dora what's wrong?" He asked a little panicked.

"We think Teddy's got a cold. Sirius is at the apothecary getting a baby safe pain reliever." Harry took a deep breath.

"We got home and heard him crying." Harry yelled over Teddy's crying when it suddenly stopped as Teddy latched on to his mum. "And it sounded like hell had broken loose, so I came as quickly as I could." He sat down on Dora's bed. "What happened?"

"He woke up after his nap and was so irritable that I couldn't put him down. He wouldn't eat. He didn't want to play with Padfoot. Then we noticed a runny nose. Sirius recognised a cold, so he's out getting the stuff Lily got for you." She smiled. "You should have seen his face when he realised he could help fix it." Dora laughed. "Apparently, you had one about the same age and Sirius says he took care of you at night so Lily and James could sleep."

"Well I'm glad he knew what to do." Harry sighed as he looked down at his now sleeping Godson. They got up and went down to the drawing room where they put him in his cradle and sat near the fireplace—away from Ted so they could talk. Hermione joined them with three butterbeers.

"You're going to make a great dad someday Harry. I'm just hoping Teddy hasn't killed me before then." Dora smiled tiredly at the couple.

Harry went red at the compliment. "Well, I'll make all my mistakes with that one so I'll know what I'm doing when we have ours." Harry replied. He looked critically at Dora. "Dora, you need to go rest. We'll watch over him here. You look exhausted."

Dora looked hesitant. "I shouldn't. He may need me."

"We'll come get you when we can't handle it." Hermione assured the new mum.

"Okay." She got up and headed to bed.

"Wow. She must be tired. She usually doesn't acquiesce so quickly." Hermione marveled.

"She's been alone with him for a while, it must be draining—knowing nothing you're doing is helping." They heard a pop from the entrance hall.

Sirius came through the sitting room to the drawing room. "Where are Dora and Teddy?" He asked.

"Teddy's over there asleep." Harry informed, pointing to the cradle. "And Dora is upstairs resting. Did you get the potions?"

"Yeah. One fever and pain reducer and one decongestant. We don't want to wake him up though to give it to him. I made that mistake with you and you did _not_ want to go back to sleep. The only thing I could do was lay with you as Padfoot and lick you to make you giggle." He smiled at the memory.

"How much time did you spend with my parents? Didn't you have your own place?"

"Yeah but my place was lonely so I spent most evenings at Jamie's. Especially after you were born. I moved in for the last month of the pregnancy and your first six months. I was there when your mum went into labour." He laughed. "Had to firecall Jamie at the office, then floo to hospital with Lily-stayed with her till your dad got there. Then Remus and I wore holes in the tile as we waited."

"So you helped take care of me, sort of like me with Teddy." Harry grinned.

"Yeah. But you won't run off and get put into Azkaban." Sirius shook his head at his own foolishness.

About an hour later, Dora came downstairs just as the little man was waking. She picked him up as he began to cry. Sirius left the room and came back with two phials. Telling her what he was doing, he gave Teddy a dropperful of each. He nearly instantly calmed down and Dora just rocked him.

"The sales lady said to give them every three to four hours. What I learned with Harry was to not wake the kid to give him potions. It makes babies angry." Sirius grinned.

By this time, it was nearly seven and Dobby called them for dinner. They had called the Grangers and let them know it wasn't safe to come over if they didn't want to get sick. They agreed. So it was just the four adults and Teddy, who was in the bouncer on a widened chair.

"So Harry. Tomorrow we meet with Ted for the will, then we'll meet Neville at 10:30 at Gringotts for formal introductions to Ted." Sirius laid out. "On Monday morning, we shall go to Augusta's house to talk politics and give you a weekly crash course and come up with Alliances for all." He laughed at the pained look on Harry's face.

"Lovely." Harry replied sarcastically. They then turned the conversation to more mundane things. When Hermione told Sirius about Luna's interest in pizza, all he could do was laugh.

"That sounds so much like the Luna I'm getting to know." Sirius barked.

"Seems like an interesting person, she does." Dora laughed. "I haven't talked to her much but I like her."

HP

Later that night, as Harry was giving his brown eyed girl a kiss near his door, she piped up with "Would you like me to move in here tomorrow?"

He looked surprised and brought her into his room and sat her on his bed. "Are you sure?" He asked looking her directly in the eyes.

"Yes, love. I'm sure."

"Why now? What's changed since last night?"

"Well, I talked to Luna and realised my heart and mind were actually on the same page. I think I needed to talk it out with someone not involved in the situation." She explained.

"Then of course. I'd love you to move in. And I've got to thank Luna." He replied fervently. Hermione just laughed as she went to get nightclothes; she could move the rest of her stuff later.

They just laid down and cuddled as they fell asleep.

**Friday 23 1998**

The whole house did not sleep well that night. Each adult was up with Teddy at least once that night. He actually ended up in Harry and Hermione's bed around 2.00 and all three of them catnapped when Teddy was able to sleep. The poor guy couldn't sleep for more than half an hour at a time.

Unlike most days, they stayed in bed until 8.00, so they could all sleep as much as possible. By 9.00, Harry and Sirius were about to head out.

"What are you going to do while we're gone?" Sirius asked Hermione at breakfast.

"I think I'm going to work on the Rune project Professor Babbling and I have been working on together." She smiled enthusiastically.

"What is it?"

"Oh, we're trying to find a rune sequence that will allow our electronics to work in places like Hogwarts. When we left Hogwarts, Professor Babbling and I had made significant progress but were stumped a bit by the rune set we were developing for making the batteries get their charge from magic or protect the battery from magic. It would be better if magic actually charged the batteries but I'm not sure if it's possible." She babbled.

Sirius laughed as he said "Calm down Hermione. You'll figure it out. Mooney was really good at Runes, maybe I can find his school books and notes and you can look through them?"

She bounded up and ran around the table to Sirius and gave him one of her patented hugs. "Thank you. Thank you."

"Neeed. . . To. . . Brea" he tried to say as she let go sheepishly. He took a deep, dramatic breath. "Thank you." He smiled as everyone chuckled at their antics.

"Sorry." She smiled back as she sat back down. Teddy began to whimper as he woke up. Hermione got up to hold him, as she was done eating. "I'll try a bottle, yeah." She looked at Dora who smiled sleepily as Hermione summoned and warmed a bottle.

"You know, Mione, you might call Luna for help with your project. She's supposed to be good with Runes and her mum experimented and invented Charms. She might know some charms to help." Harry suggested.

"I'll do that." She smiled at Harry as he and Sirius got up to leave. He kissed her and Teddy's cheeks as he left.

"Now, Harry, I want you to apparate to the Cauldron because we need to talk about how to deal with the Goblins and Humans we're going to deal with." Sirius said before he apparated. Harry followed.

HP

When they got out of the Cauldron and headed into Diagon Alley, Sirius started talking. "Harry, the first thing you need to know is that there are both Goblin and Human account managers. Your family has always had a Goblin account manager until James changed that when Ted came to work there. He knew Ted married my rebellious cousin and wanted to support them. He was a firm believer in marrying for love, not contract, so he decided to give Ted his first big client." Sirius smiled fondly. "Ted was so grateful to him that the fees normally associated with the transfer to James were waived. The Goblins hated that. Even though most accounts always have a Goblin and Human working on them—especially the large ones—because you were not able to make any of the financial decisions, they decided to leave Ted as the only manager. I understand, he now has a trainee named Swordback for your accounts." Sirius continued. "Since the managers take a commission on how much they make for each client that year, I guarantee Ted will be getting a sizable commission by December." He looked at Harry. "Understand this about the Human-Goblin relations Harry. They don't like us because they see us as rude, vulgar, racists. If you treat Trainee Swordback with respect, you will get much better service from him. After this summer, most of your exchanges will not be with Ted but with Swordback. Treat him with respect and you'll have a better relationship with Gringotts."

"What do I call him?" Harry asked, a little worried about offending the Goblin that deals with his money.

"Trainee Swordback will do for now." Sirius smiled encouragingly. "Good question." He patted Harry on the back as they came up the stairs at Gringotts.

As the Goblins opened the door, Harry said, "Thank you sir." As he went through. Sirius smiled as he noticed the strange looks they gave each other.

"Good job Harry." Sirius smiled.

"What?" Harry was confused.

"Most wizards don't say thank you. You just earned respect from those two."

Harry just shook his head. "That's crazy. They keep our money. It'd only hurt us if we were rude." Harry answered as his Godfather laughed.

"James said the same thing to me in 1st year." Sirius smiled as he walked up to a desk. "Master Ragre, we're here to see Master Tonks and Trainee Swordback. We have an appointment."

"Of course, Lord Black." Master Ragre picked up what looked like a cordless phone, spoke a few words in his own language and hung up. "Please have a seat over there." He pointed to some marble benches. "Trainee Swordback will be out momentarily."

"Thank you Master Ragre." Harry made a small head bow as they left. Sirius noted the look Master Ragre gave them. _I've got to tell Dora, she'll love this_, the older man thought.

A few minutes later and Trainee Swordback came out to lead them back to a very large office, richly decorated with a large man a few years older than Sirius. He came out from behind the desk.

"Hello Sirius. How's my grandson?" He asked smiling. Harry had the impression he smiled a lot.

"He's fine Ted." His Godfather smiled back as he shook Ted's hand. "He's got a cold but that's under control."

"Well, that's good." He returned as he turned to Harry. "Hello Harry." He shook Harry's hand. "Well, sit down and we can get started." Once everyone was seated, Ted began. "I understand you want to officially take your Lordship Sirius and designate an heir, am I correct?"

"Yep. That's about the size of it."

And they were signing parchment with blood quills for the next hour or so. Sirius went through the blood ritual he needed in order to take his Lordship.

"Now Harry, you can take your Lordship now—you are of age—however, I would advise you to do it after this summer's training." Ted said.

"Why?"

"Well, you'll have a better idea of what you have and be more aware of a Lord's responsibilities. I think it will mean more once you've done that."

"Makes sense." Harry replied thoughtfully.

At that moment, a knock sounded. "Enter." Ted commanded as Trainee Swordback came in with Neville.

"Hello Neville." Ted said as Harry and Sirius said "Hey Nev."

"Come in and sit-down Neville." Ted offered. As everyone sat back down, Ted continued. "Now, what Sirius, Augusta and I have agreed to is that I will teach you about your holdings from Tuesday to Friday each week until I believe you are ready to handle your own finances. In the beginning, it will be a lot of parchment work getting you familiar with your holdings, then you'll be going through your vaults and itemising what you have; you may even take some home if you wish. Then you will be choosing a property to renovate. The renovation, including the hiring and firing of construction companies and people to work these properties will take at least most of the summer." Ted laughed at the overwhelmed look the boys were exchanging. "Don't worry. I'll walk you through the process and help whenever you need it. Also, Trainee Swordback will be able to help as well."

"Thank you Trainee Swordback." Harry replied gratefully.

HP

For the rest of the weekend, Harry and Hermione helped with Teddy. Hermione had moved all her stuff into Harry's room on Friday, in between helping to take care of Teddy and working on her project. She didn't have Luna over because Teddy was sick.

Friday night Teddy ended up in Harry and Hermione's room because he seemed to like being taken care of by his Godfather. At one point, Dora was so upset about Teddy "not liking me" that she started crying.

Sirius took her into the study, sat her down and explained. "Teddy isn't their kid, so they're not as worried as you. They're just doing what needs to be done—without much emotion. You, on the other hand, are his mum. You're worried to bits and are a basketful of emotions. Teddy senses this and wants the calmness of Harry." Sirius explained. "I was the same way with Harry. Lily and James were worrying themselves sick—literally with Jamie- so I took over. We're removed from the worrying by one step. You, Lily and James are that much closer because he's your son."

Dora had calmed a lot during this explanation and finally said. "He doesn't hate me then?"

Sirius just laughed. "Of course not, love." He gave his cousin a hug.

"How do you know all this about what to do with a kid? I feel like I'm just winging it and not getting it right half the time."

"Of course you do, this is your first go round. I've done this age. Ask me in three years how to handle your son. I won't have a clue!" He laughed. They got up and went to the drawing room where Hermione was rocking Teddy to sleep.

"He's just had half a bottle and the potions, so I think he'll sleep a while." She informed Dora. "I was going to let him fall asleep and bring him to the library with me unless you want him." She lifted an eyebrow.

"Just put him in the bassinet in here. I'm going to work on some stuff, so I can keep my eye on him." Dora said as she waved her wand to clean up the toys. Hermione followed her instructions and gave her a hug on the way out.

"Call us if you need us Dora." She smiled. She walked into the study where Sirius was at his desk looking through a file. He looked up at her entrance and smiled, motioning to a seat.

"So, what are you doing in here? Looks like you're going through old records?" She asked him.

"Yeah. I went to Gringotts to go to the Potter Vault to find any information on the Potter-Longbottom Alliance that Fleamont's father, Henry and Frank's grandfather Gage forged right out of school. I understand from Monty that this alliance goes further back but it was formalized in their time." Sirius sighed. "It seems from records that the Longbottoms and Potters go back at least to the formation of the Ministry, maybe further."

"Why are you looking at it now?" Hermione queried curiously.

"Because, you, Harry and I are going to Augusta's on Monday for a refresher course on the politics of Wizengamot and all the old Alliances." Sirius smirked, knowing Hermione's reaction already.

"Sounds like fun." Hermione grinned. "But you might want to warn Harry ahead of time. He won't appreciate new lessons being dropped on him all the sudden." She smirked back.

"Could you tell him?" Sirius asked with a little fake fear in his voice.

"No. You're his Godfather, it's your job." She laughed at his pout.

"Spoil sport." Sirius muttered as she left the study laughing.

**Sunday 24 May 1998**

Sunday went by with Teddy finally on the mend. Saturday night he actually stayed asleep the usual amount of time. Sunday he was less fussy and Harry and Hermione decided to take him into the mall in Crawley. They came home with a few hundred sterling worth of clothes, Teddy Bears and muggle toys for the little man.

When Dora told them to take it back, Hermione replied with, "Talk to him." As she pointed to Harry. "He's the one blowing his money."

"It _is not_ blowing it if I'm having fun!" Harry protested. "And no Dora. I'm not taking anything back."

She just smiled at the stubborn look on his face. "I'm only letting you get away with it because you seem to enjoy it." She smiled at Harry.

He nodded. Looking at his Godson in the sling around his shoulders, he noticed the boy was almost asleep. "He's almost asleep. He's been awake most of the outing, so I'll put him in his cot." He started up the stairs.


	7. Chapter 7

**Ch. 7 **

**Monday 25 May 1998**

Monday morning, Harry woke to Teddy whimpering in his Moses Basket at the end of Harry's bed. Harry grabbed his glasses and got up to change and feed him. When Teddy saw Harry, he smiled. "I see you're feeling much better today." Harry whispered so he didn't wake Hermione. Having a sick child the first night your girlfriend spends the night in your room is a surefire way to dampen the mood. As much as he loved Teddy, he wanted his nights back. "Can we please let you sleep in your nursery tonight little sprog? I really want to sleep alone with your Aunt Hermione tonight. Please."

"Are you actually whining to Ted about his sleeping arrangements?" Hermione asked sternly as she padded across to the seating area.

"No. I'm asking. There's a difference." Harry corrected hastily, thinking Mione was mad. When she started laughing, he grinned.

"You are so cute my love." She leaned over the divan to give him a kiss. When Harry turned Ted on his shoulder for a burp, Teddy grabbed a bunch of Hermione's hair. "Yes. You are cute too little one." She smiled as she untangled his little hands.

HP

When they were done with breakfast, three of them headed off to Longbottom Estate for their lessons. When Harry floo'd in, he fell on his face. As he got up, he saw the very formal woman that was Nev's Gran standing in front of him.

"Hello Lady Longbottom." He intoned as he took her hand and kissed it.

"Hello, Mr. Potter." She replied just as formally. She then looked at Sirius. "You've started his training in etiquette, I see. Good for you Lord Black." She then gave them all a warm smile. "Welcome to Longbottom Estate." She said as she led them to the sitting room. "While we are here, please feel free to address me by my Christian name."

Harry was a little shocked at this and looked at Nev. All he got was a bewildered look in response. "Thank you, Augusta" Harry replied as they all took seats.

"Now, I understand from Sirius that you, Harry and Hermione, have not gotten the training in how our political system works, is that right?" She began.

"Yes ma'am. I didn't know I was part of a Noble and Ancient House until a few weeks ago." Harry smiled sheepishly.

"And you are a first-generation witch, right?"

"Yes ma'am." Hermione looked confused. "Most call me 'muggle born'." She added.

"I hate that term. It sounds derogatory." Augusta declared.

"That's an interesting idea." Harry said. "The term 'first-generation' turns the idea into a positive rather than a negative."

"Yes Harry." Augusta smiled. She pulled out a book from a bookcase and sat down, handing it to Harry. "Here is a list of what are called the Sacred 28. They are the families with the 'purest' blood in Britain. At the beginnings of the Ministry in 1707, there were 32 Pureblood families that had seats on Wizengamot. In the 1930's, they kicked some off because they were not 'pure' enough. In other words, they thought because these families didn't share their beliefs about muggles, they were impure. Monty just barely held onto his seat during this time but he was not included in the "Sacred 28". You'll notice that your friend Ron's family is in there. They are not on Wizengamot now. Their seat was taken in a quidditch match bet between the Malfoys and Weasleys 300 years ago." Augusta had to stop because Harry, Hermione and Neville started laughing like hyenas.

"Please tell me it was a Cannon's match." Harry said through his laughter.

"I'm unsure. I can check the archives tomorrow." Augusta returned a little bewildered.

"That would be brilliant." Harry calmed down. "I'll have to tell the twins."

"Now." She continued sternly. "Originally, these families had 2 votes apiece and thirteen heads of departments on Wizengamot. So they originally had 75 votes. Now, the Sacred 28 plus the Potters hold 2 votes apiece. Of the other seats, 27 are made up of department heads, and 15 are award nominees." She wrote in the air all the names of the Sacred 28 and began crossing some out. "These crossed out seats are now empty because they are Death Eaters. They have been taken away permanently. That was decided this week."

Harry began crossing out names with his wand. "Then all these families won't have seats." He sat down.

"Yes. If they're convicted." Augusta confirmed. "Now, Harry, your seat has been empty for 16 years and was overseen by Albus, so it is rightfully yours now. I would suggest you wait to take it up until you actually feel you are ready."

"Not now then." He smirked at Hermione and Neville.

"Yes. Of course." She smiled indulgently at James' son. Looking at Hermione, she noticed she was writing but not on parchment or with ink. "What are you writing on Hermione?" She was curious because it looked so much more efficient.

"It's muggle paper and pen." She smiled as she handed it over for the older lady to look at. She immediately began writing.

"This is so wonderful." Lady Longbottom enthused. "It's so much easier to use. Can you get me some? It'd be much better than parchment."

"Of course." Hermione smiled wondering if she could introduce paper and pen to school this year.

"Now, as you can tell, the Sacred 28 list is not complete. For instance, the Lovegood's are purebloods, so are the Boots. I was going to suggest this afternoon that after a seat is taken that it be given to another, pureblood or not, that has served society in some way. My first appointment was going to be Minerva McGonagall. She's a half-blood that has done great things for this society."

At this, everyone was nodding. "I'll second that."

"Thank you, Sirius. I've been talking with a lot of families and I think it will pass."

They then went on to discuss names of possible replacements for another hour or two. Toward the end, Augusta asked. "Sirius are you going to bring Harry to watch the proceedings today?"

"I was thinking of it." He looked at Harry who nodded. He needed to learn as much as he could about the politics of Wizengamot if he was ever going to do anything there. "I guess so. Nev, you going?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah. I s'ppose." He grumbled.

Everyone adjourned and the small family floo'd back to the Madhouse for lunch.

HP

They floo'd into the house and Harry heard a song he recognised but couldn't put a name to. "Who is this?" he asked as he followed the music to the drawing room where Dora was dancing with Teddy in her arms. Teddy was just giggling.

"You don't know who this is?" Sirius asked incredulously. At the shake of Harry's head, he said. "It's the greatest band ever besides Led Zeppelin—the Beatles." He took Hermione in his arms and started dancing to _All You Need Is Love._

Hermione started laughing but Harry noticed that she followed Sirius' lead. He started to wonder if he needed to get dance lessons; it seemed Hermione liked to dance and if she does, he needed to learn. He wanted to be able to do things Hermione liked to do. But the only experience he had with dancing was the Yule Ball—not his finest day. Maybe Emma could help.

All this was going through his mind as they danced and he sat there watching. Soon Dobby popped in and announced lunch. As they sat down, Sirius asked the young people, "So what do you think of the lessons with Augusta?"

"It was interesting. I've heard of the Sacred 28 but never understood how many pureblood families there are. It's no wonder the system is so rigged against non-purebloods." Hermione offered. "I think if you add more diverse views, you can nip this bigotry stuff in the bud now."

"Yeah. I like the idea of bringing in people that have done something for society." Harry added. "I just hope they let mug—first-generation families in."

"One thing you have to understand about Wizengamot is they never meet before 1.30—and are home by 6. They do not believe in getting up early or staying late. However, they do believe in being on time." Sirius got up from the table. "Let's go." They got up, said goodbye to Dora and Teddy and left.

When they arrived at the Ministry, they ran into Nev on their way to the lifts. "Hey Nev." Hermione said as they rode it to the proper floor.

"Hey Hermione." He smiled at them both.

"Now Wizengamot usually meet in a smaller chamber on Level 2 because not every member shows up every day. However, we have been meeting in our large chamber on level 10 since the war ended because everyone and their nephew twice removed wants to come." Lady Longbottom explained as they got off the lifts to take the stairs. "Boys, everyone is going to stare. You are new entities and you're both famous, so don't be surprised."

They came to a pair of heavy, deep red English Oak doors that looked to Harry to be a thousand years old. They had solid brass rings as door pulls instead of normal door knobs. This should have clued Harry into what the inside of the room would be like.

They walked into a rectangular room with heavy wood paneling on the walls. The entrance to the room led down an aisle with stadium seating, 5 rows each on the long sides of the rectangle. At the end of the aisle was an ornate, and clearly very old, oak table with two ornate, throne-like seats. To the side of that was a smaller desk, clearly for the Wizengamot scribe. Both Kingsley and Griselda Marchbanks, the Chief Witch, were seated at the table.

As they came in, Sirius went to the left top bench to the middle seat with Harry and Hermione following. The Longbottoms went to the right to a similar position.

Sirius leaned over to Harry (who was seated next to him) and Hermione, who was on his right and said. "You're seated in my Heir and Spare seats. Next to you Hermione is the Potter seat." He grinned. "James and I had our seats moved together so all four of us could sit together and talk. We'd only ever attend if both our fathers were not attending."

"You really didn't take this seriously did you?" Hermione asked.

"Nope. Not in the least." he grinned as people began filling the seats around them. Augusta was right. They were being stared at and it took everything he had for Harry not to slip down in his seat. He looked over at Neville who looked like a deer in headlamps at all the attention. Eventually, as Nev began to calm down, he looked over at Harry and they grinned at each other. It was then that Harry decided that he wasn't going to be bothered by the stares. He took Hermione's left hand and rubbed his thumb over her fingers, thinking of how to get a ring on there as soon as possible.

He was surprised to see so many of his classmates sitting next to their fathers: Hannah Abbott, Susan Bones, Millicent Bulstrode, Daphne Greengrass, and Ernie MacMillan were the only ones he could name but he recognised several more.

"Augusta mentioned something this morning about Alliances, Pads, are we going to be building some?" The thoughtful young man asked.

"Yes. Soon. I want to talk more with her first though. I'm still getting my footing back as well. While being in on the Death Eater deliberations has helped, I want to get Augusta's advice first. Merlin, I wish Frank or James were here."

The session got underway then with Kingsley slamming the gavel down. It was the usual bureaucracy that happens in forums like this. They settled on a schedule for the next two weeks of trials of Death Eaters. They appointed a few temporary Heads of Departments. They even discussed the awarding of some high honors to those who fought in the Battle of Hogwarts.

Harry felt as though he had to say something but decided to check with Sirius first. "Pads, I need to speak up on this. How do I go about this?"

Sirius smirked. As soon as this topic was brought up, he knew Harry'd want to speak. "I'll help." Harry looked at him gratefully. Sirius stood at the next break in the debate. "Chief Witch Marchbanks, my heir would like to address this body." He smiled at her.

"Of course. The Chief Witch recognises the heir to Houses Black and Potter, Mr. Harry Potter." She smiled indulgently at him as he began to feel sick.

As he stood, he felt his legs trying to give way. _I can do this. I faced Voldemort and Dan, this should be easy. _He thought. He took a deep breath and began. "Witches and Warlocks, while deciding to honor both the living and dead is a noble idea, I feel that, being as most of you weren't there or were on the wrong side, this whole body has no right to decide who deserves the honors bestowed. It is only those that were there, that saw the carnage, who had to visit death on others, who had to move their dead friends into the Great Hall in the reprieve Tom gave our side, that should be deciding who gets what award." The hall erupted in shouting, He let the Chief Witch and Kings get control, then continued as though he hadn't been stopped by children fighting. His gaze took on a decidedly stubborn look to it. He heard Hermione groan and smiled to himself. The look she had hated for 7 years, that she called his 'I'm done thinking and I'm just going to do it' face, was on full force. "As I grew up knowing nothing of this world, I have no idea what awards there are. However," He got a gleam of mischief that Sirius groaned at (James used it all too often) in his eyes. "I believe if you truly want to honor these men and women, you could form a small band of the combatants from the Battle who decide these things. I offer Neville Longbottom as the leader of this committee." He paused to unearthly silence, so everyone could hear Nev's _almost_ silent groan. Harry looked at him to see Nev glaring back. At this point, he let a feral grin out to play. "He not only stood up to Voldemort when everyone else was unwilling or too afraid but fought with unparalleled valor that night. I feel that he deserves the responsibility of deciding these awards, along with others who fought." He sat down.

There was dead silence. Then, a man whom Harry thought was Mr. Greengrass, stood up. "I concur with the reasoning behind Mr. Potter's request. However, I would suggest that some from this august body be included in this committee to give some official sanction to these awards. I also believe that those included from this body have no ties to V-V-Voldemort's side."

Chief Marchbanks looked to Harry. "Do you have a problem with this Mr. Potter?"

He stood up. "I believe this to be an excellent idea. As my girlfriend has told me how honest and openminded his daughter Daphne is, I nominate Mr. Greengrass as the first of these members." He smiled his thanks to Mr. Greengrass.

So they began the back and forth of nominating Wizengamot members to this committee. They decided on a 10-member committee with an extra if they needed a tie breaker. Seven would be combatants to be determined by Neville. Four would be Wizengamot members. They voted in MacMillan, Slughorn (Harry grimaced at the inclusion of Horace), Greengrass, and Abbott. Finally, they had the committee organised and they moved on to other business.

It was then that Lady Longbottom brought up the ideas they had discussed that morning. When what Harry had begun thinking of as the Death Eater contingent got ahold of it, they were furious.

Avery's proxy, since he was in jail, started off with "You can't let mudbloods into Wizengamot." That stirred all sorts of anger at the proxy and those who took the death eater side.

At a lull in the conversation, Neville stood shakily. "I understand that everyone is scared about how things are changing so fast for the purebloods in our society. However, the truth is that if we keep along this path, it will lead to another Dark Lord. I really don't want to have to fight another war. If we include both half-bloods and first-generation families in this body, we won't be as insular as we have been and there will be less division in our world." He took a breath. "Look, just because you're a pureblood doesn't mean you're inherently smarter than a first-generation witch. The smartest witch I will ever meet is a first-generation witch. She's sitting in this body as we speak. She is the top student at Hogwarts and her parents are muggles." At the yell of "Who?" Neville looked over at Hermione. Harry put his arm around her and smiled down at her. "Her name's Hermione Granger and she's sitting with her boyfriend Harry Potter. She also fought beside us at Hogwarts." Neville pointed to them.

"Lord Black, how dare you bring a mudblood to our session?" The Carrow proxy shouted.

Harry was about to stand up and defend his love when she reached over and kissed his check. "Please no Harry."

They didn't see it but Sirius shot to his feet. "HOW DARE YOU INSULT THE WOMAN WHO SAVED MY LIFE!" He bellowed as he started to leave his seat. Harry could feel the anger roiling off him as he tried to crawl over Harry and Hermione.

Harry stood up and grabbed his Godfather's shoulder, fully aware that Sirius was going to pummel the fool who said that because he felt the same way, and stopped him from moving. "Padfoot, I just got you back, please don't do anything they could throw you in Azkaban for." He said soothingly. That was as good as cold water being thrown at his face as Sirius looked at those pleading eyes and took a breath to gain control. He nodded at Harry, glad to have someone that cared about him.

He stood at his seat. "It is that kind of bigotry that caused both Grindelwald and Voldemort. We need a change and Lady Longbottom's idea is one both the Houses of Black and Potter support wholeheartedly."

"As do I." Said Lord Abbott.

"As do I."

"As do I"

Chief Marchbanks held up her hand at this. "We will take an official vote."

It passed by a wide margin.

HP

After the session, the three met up with Nev and Augusta. Nev just glared at Harry. "You're dead, mate." He growled.

"What'd I do?" Harry looked at Nev innocently as they walked to the stairs.

"I don't need this bloody committee! They're gonna walk all over me." Nev groaned. Harry put his hand on Nev's shoulder.

"No they won't. You can do this Nev. I know you can." He said as they got on the lift.

Augusta looked at Harry. "I did not realise you were such a natural at getting your own way young man." She complimented.

"I knew all along." Hermione put in. When Augusta and Sirius gave her a skeptical look, she simply replied, "When he can talk you in to going after Voldemort in first year, saving Sirius third year, going to the DOM fifth year and running off to save the Wizarding world seventh year, you just get used to him getting his own way." Hermione laughed at the incredulous look on Augusta's face.

"You'll have to tell me some of these stories." She shook her head as they got to the fireplaces. "We'll pick Nev up at 8.00 tomorrow." Sirius said as he floo'd out.

"Bye Nev, Augusta." Harry spun out with Hermione.

When they got home, everyone but Teddy was exhausted. He was on the floor playing with his gym and giggling when they came into the drawing room. Dora was just sitting there with her eyes closed.

Harry leaned down to pick up his godson and laid down on the rug. Then he put Teddy on his stomach and they talked and played in their own world until it was time for dinner.

As they walked into the kitchen, Hermione said, "You two were in your own world for the whole time we were in the drawing room."

"Yeah. I needed to unwind and for some unknown reason playing with Teddy does that for me." he smiled his lopsided smile she loved so much.

HP

That night Teddy slept in his nursery. Of course, Harry still fed him and got him ready for bed but he stayed in his own cot. This meant that Harry and Hermione had their room to themselves.

They got into pajamas and sat outside on their balcony through the French doors in their room. Harry sat down in a lounge chair and pulled Mione to sit down with him. Hermione tucked into Harry's arms as they both relaxed. "This is the first time we've been in this room alone since you moved your stuff in." Harry said as he rested his head on the chair.

"Yeah. It's sort of nice to just sit out here and not worry about Teddy." She smiled.

"That doesn't mean I'm not worried about him; just that my mind is more on you than him." He smiled into her hair. He took a deep breath and inhaled the vanilla scent that he only associated with her. "I love you Mione." He said softly.

"I love you too my Harry." She smiled as she cuddled even deeper into him. "I can't believe the war is over, we're together, most of our friends have survived, we're now living with Sirius right next to my parents and we get to help rebuild the world."

"Yeah. I can't wait to see how Nev handles this Awards Committee." He chuckled softly.

"Was that a spur of the moment decision? The committee with Nev at the head?"

"The committee idea was because I didn't want any Death Eater families deciding these things. Nev, well that was just a way of helping him spread his wings." He chuckled evilly.

"Did you see the look he gave you?" She looked up into his face as he smirked down at her. "You did. Didn't you? Why?"

"I don't want him crawling back into his shell. I like the new Nev."

She laughed. "You're mean." They fell into silence and finally fell asleep in each other's arms. A little while later, Sirius came in to check on them, like he had done every night since the battle; he chuckled and levitated both of them inside onto the bed where they instinctively cuddled together. "Goodnight Prongslet." He whispered as he kissed his godson on the forehead. "Goodnight Mrs. Prongslet"

"G'night Padfoot." She mumbled as he smiled on the way out.

**Tuesday 26 May 1998**

The next morning, Hermione woke up not in the same place she'd fallen asleep. For some unknown reason, this brought all her senses to alert. She turned over as quietly as she could, you never knew who was out there, and grabbed her wand. As she woke up enough for her frontal cortex to start reasoning, she slowly realised that they must have fallen asleep outside and someone moved them in. However, to be sure, she slowly opened her eyes and saw that yes, she was in their bedroom and nothing was amiss. She sighed as her heart rate slowed and she got up for the day.

After her shower, she went down to the kitchen where Harry was cooking breakfast. Again, he was talking to Teddy as he cooked. Hermione just stood there in the door watching as Harry told Teddy about what he and Uncle Nev were going to do today.

With Harry and Nev out of the house, she thought she would invite Luna over to work on her Runes project.

"So, when are you going to Gringotts today?" She asked as Harry jumped for his wand and swiveled around. Teddy gurgled with laughter.

"Oh. It's just you." He sighed as he put down his wand and looked at his godson. "You think that's funny, do you?" He asked as he tickled the little man. Teddy just continued laughing. Hermione laughed as well. As Harry went back to work, he replied. "I think about 8 but I'm not sure."

"Okay." She left the room and went to floocall Luna to see if she wanted to come over to work on the Runes project. She was very excited to help. Runes and Charms were her favorite subjects and she hadn't been challenged at all this last year. A good problem was just what she needed.

"Hey kids, enjoy falling asleep on the balcony last night?" Sirius grinned and wiggled his eyebrows teasingly as he sat down at the table.

"Yes, we did." Harry replied nonchalantly, even though his cheeks were burning.

"Was that you who brought us in?" Hermione inquired.

"Yes. I didn't think you'd want to wake up like that."

"Thanks. You were right. That would've hurt." She smiled at who she was rapidly thinking of as Uncle Pads.

"Then he came in and told me all about it." Dora continued as she sat with Teddy and let him nurse while she ate. "He was lucky I was up changing Teddy at the time or I would've hexed him to little itty bits."

"You wouldn't do that to your favorite cousin?" Sirius teased.

"If you woke me? Of course I would. The only man allowed to wake me is this little one." Dora smiled as Teddy just kept on eating.

"Will any of you be home for lunch today?" Dobby asked from his seat.

"Har-bear and I won't." Sirius contributed.

"Luna and I will." Hermione added.

"I won't be. Mum's taking Teddy so I can have lunch with a friend." Dora replied.

"Thank yous sirs and ma'ams." Dobby left his chair, snapped his fingers and the table cleared itself.

"We've got to go." Sirius got up, gave Ted, Dora and Hermione kisses.

goodbye and waited for Harry, who did the same, only he whispered "I love you" to Ted and Hermione as he left.

"I understand you are going to work on your project today?" Dora asked Hermione as the men left.

"Yeah. Luna's coming over in a few minutes and we have to head to Flourish and Blott's for some texts we need. Then we'll be back. We're also going to take a phone I've already put a few Rune sequences on to see how well it holds up in a magically infused area."

Dora just shook her head. "Okay. I'll be interested to have one when you get it working. You know, I have a friend in the Patents Office that could help you make money from this when you've finished."

"Maybe. I might try to help a few friends at Hogwarts then do something with the Patent Office."

"You mean you want to hook the younger generation a bit, then ask for money. Smart thinking." She laughed as she got up to get Teddy ready to leave. They both heard the floochime as they walked out of the kitchen.

"Hey Luna." Hermione greeted as she went into the sitting room and gave her friend a hug.

HP

The two men, dressed in their finest robes and looking as aristocratic as they could pull off—which was pretty well done, floo'd to Longbottom Estate to pick up an equally well-dressed Neville. Then all three floo'd to Gringotts. A few minutes later they were shown into the same office as before.

There, Trainee Swordback and Master Tonks were waiting for the trio. "Hello Ted. Hello Trainee Swordback. How are you doing today?" Sirius asked as he shook Ted's hand and bowed to Swordback. Both young men followed suit.

"I'm well." Ted smiled. "How's my Grandson?"

At this all three laughed. "Is that always going to be your first question Ted?" Harry asked.

"Of course. You live with him, I don't." He laughed.

"Well, if you go home for lunch, you'll see him today." Harry informed him.

"I think I'll do that." He looked at all three men sitting across his desk after he sat down himself. "Well Sirius, I know that you are to be at Wizengamot this morning, so you should probably leave. I need to get these men started on all this." He waved his hand at two large tables that were stacked high with folders.

"Bloody hell." Harry breathed as the other three laughed.

"This is why I've put this task off with Gran. It's a nightmare learning all this." Nev supplied.

Sirius got up to leave until Harry took his arm. He looked down at his Godson. "Can I come with you to Wizengamot instead of this?" He pleaded.

Sirius couldn't help it. He wanted to be the adult in this situation so badly but it was just too funny for the Marauder. He burst out laughing and couldn't stop for at least three minutes straight. Once he was able to get himself under control—both he and Ted were laughing so hard they were egging each other on- he said, "Sorry Prongslet. You need this." He turned around and left as fast as possible.

Ted got up and motioned for the young men to follow him. They went over to the two tables, that very much reminded the men of the table Kings and Chief Marchbanks sat at the previous day, that each had at least eight piles of folders that were a little more than half a meter tall each.

"The left table is the Potter holdings, the right the Longbottom holdings." Ted began. Pointing to three piles on each table, he continued. "Each of these piles has all the information you need about all the property you own."

"Huh? I own property?" Harry asked at the same time Nev asked, "I own more than Longbottom Estates."

"Yes and yes. Each one of you own several properties all over the world. I want you to go through each file and put a report together for me about the property. I want to know where it is, what it's used for, how long you've owned it, is it currently making money, how much it is worth and what you think of the place. The Potters own I think 20 properties and the Longbottom's own 25, I think. If you have any questions, please ask Trainee Swordback or myself." Ted smiled at the dumbfounded looks on their faces. Since both boys were sitting on chairs behind the tables, he stood in between them where the tables met. He pulled himself to sit on the tables to look at the kids. He said softly, "Look, you need to know what you own so you can make financially sound decisions when the time comes. Just take it one folder at a time and you'll get through it quickly. It's not as bad as it seems." He could see the looks of determination come across these young men's faces and knew that they'd be fine. He decided to leave them then.

"Nev, we've fought in a war, watched people we love be tortured. This should be easy." Harry slapped Neville's shoulder as he took his first file.

An hour later, both young men were still working but had only gotten through two properties each. Harry took the next file and saw that it was a winery in Tuscany Italy. "Bloody hell." He breathed.

"What is it Harry?" Nev looked at Harry.

"My parents had a villa in Tuscany. Why didn't they go there when Voldemort wanted them?"

Nev gave that some thought. "I don't know. Ask Sirius. He should know."

That was the only exchange they had all morning. At about 11.45, Ted suggested, "Why don't you boys go get lunch and you can continue this at one, yeah?"

"That sounds great. Nev, you want to get the twins and go to the leaky?" Harry stood up and stretched.

"Sounds good." They said goodbye to Ted and Trainee Swordback and left. They walked over to WWW, which was still under repair and restocking, and invited the twins to lunch.

HP

At the Madhouse earlier that morning, Hermione and Luna had etched in a Rune set Luna thought might protect the battery specifically. Around ten o'clock they decided to check how long it took for the phone to go out in Diagon Alley. Therefore, they went to Flourish and Blott's to get the reference material they wanted.

They stayed in Diagon until almost noon. When the phone had not fritzed out on them, Hermione decided to try calling her Grandmum before they left. She dialed the number and her Grandmum answered. "Hello?"

"Hi Grandmum. It's Hermione, how are you?"

"Hello my dear. I'm fine. Granddad and I haven't seen you in almost a year. How're you?"

"I'm great. Right now,`b n I'm in Diagon Alley on the phone." She grinned. "We might get cut off any minute."

"I thought phones didn't work in your world."

"Well, I'm trying to change that. This is an experiment."

"Oh that's wonderful dear. I h-" and the phone went staticky.

"How long was that Luna?"

"Two minutes."

"But it remained on for 2 hours." Hermione said, satisfied. They apparated home.

HP

That night the Grangers came over for dinner and spent most of the evening talking about what everyone did that day. They were in the drawing room talking about the property the Potters own when Harry asked "Why did my parents go to Godric's Hollow if Potter Manor has so many wards? Couldn't they have stayed there?"

"They could have but Dumbledore didn't think the Fidelus could be put on top of all of those ancient wards and keep them intact. He was pushing for James to use that charm. I thought he was nuts but we trusted the bastard." Anyone could see Sirius was upset so Harry went to give him a hug.

"Their deaths weren't your fault Padfoot. It was Pettigrew's and Voldemort's. And maybe Dumbledore's."

"I know. I just wish we'd relied on those wards before the Fidelus. You don't need a secret keeper for those wards because you have to be of Potter blood or be brought in by a Potter."

"So what sort of other properties do you own?" Dan asked, trying to change the topic.

"We own some vacant lots, a few abandoned buildings, a flat in San Francisco, a townhome in London, a ski lodge in the Alps, and a villa in Tuscany. It turns out the Longbottoms and Potters own two vacant pieces of land next to each other." He informed everyone.

"That's interesting. I wonder if Frank and James bought them together." Sirius asked thoughtfully.

"I think so, they were both bought in 1980 and they're both fairly large pieces of land."

"So how'd your experiment go today pumpkin? I got a call from Mum this afternoon." Emma inquired.

"Great. I think we're almost done. Luna and I think we'll have a usable prototype soon."

"How?" asked Dora.

"We were working on Runes this afternoon to make it last longer in an area like Diagon. It lasted for two hours without use and two minutes on the phone." She replied proudly.

HP

The rest of the week was very similar to Tuesday. Harry and Neville went to Gringotts every day. After looking through their properties, Ted started on what money they had and where and why it was invested there. They also talked about putting more money into muggle companies like British Airways, Barclay's, and Tesco's along with Walt Disney, Panasonic and Ford.

In fact, with Ted's help, they both decided to get out of some shady Wizarding businesses and buy stocks in the muggle world by Friday.


	8. Chapter 8

**Ch. 8**

**Friday 29 May 1998**

By Friday afternoon, Nev and Harry were both knackered. However, both were looking forward to the weekend. Ted let them go at around three that day. As they headed out, Harry asked, "Do you want to go to Fortescue's for an ice cream, mate?"

Nev immediately perked up, "Sounds good. We deserve it after this week." He started to cross the alley to the newly reopened Ice Cream Parlour.

"Looks like they just reopened." Harry murmured as they walked in.

"Hello Mr. Potter, Mr. Longbottom. How can I help you today?" The man, only a few years older that themselves, asked.

"Well, are you related to Mr. Fortescue?" Harry asked, remembering all the help he got from the old man before his third year. He knew the old man died but he was unsure who this was.

"Yes. I'm his great-nephew. I decided to reopen. He would've wanted that."

"Yes he would. He helped me so much with my summer homework before third year." Harry reminisced.

"Believe me, I know. He talked about you for months after that. My name is Florean as well." He smiled at the boys. "What do you need?" He asked again.

They ordered their two scoop ice cream sundaes and went to sit outside. When they took a seat, both young men sighed. "Harry, I tell you, this is why I put my Gran off for so long about learning all this." Nev said as he laid his head on the back of his chair.

"I don't blame you. This is horrible. Every night my dreams include just this long list of numbers or names. I'm literally waking in a cold sweat from all this. Why can't we just be kids?" Harry ended up whining.

Neville just laughed. "Sorry mate. Our childhood was spent cleaning up the war our _elders_ didn't finish last time. Now we have to clean up their bloody political mess as well. Cause we're the only people stubborn enough to make the changes needed."

Harry and he burst out laughing. "Yeah. We're pretty stubborn." Harry agreed as their sundaes were delivered. There was no more real talking until they were almost finished. "So Nev. You want to come home for pizza tonight? I'm sure Luna will be there hard at work with Mione. We could watch a movie tonight."

"Sounds like fun."

They apparated home from Diagon Alley and were nearly knocked over by their girlfriends.

"Oooomph." Harry grunted as Hermione knocked the wind out of him.

"We are so close Harry. It's amazing. We can have an hour-long conversation now on the phones. Our next step is to give it to Fred or George and have them use it to call us next week while it's in Diagon Alley constantly. We need to have them over this weekend to talk with them about this." She took a deep breath as she finished her rambling. Harry just laughed as he looked over to see his best mate in the same predicament. Although, he was pretty sure Luna was talking faster than Mione.

"Hey, everyone." Dora laughed at both boys on the floor. "You know, you are allowed to get up off the floor"

"We would if we weren't being strangled." Nev tried to reply. Just then both girls let their boys go and they all stood up.

"Where's my godson?" Harry asked suspiciously. He was always awake when Harry came home.

"Asleep. Don't you go up there. I just got him down." Dora answered severely.

"Fine. Fine." Harry pouted as he went upstairs to the game room. He always looked forward to seeing Teddy and unwinding with him.

When everyone got there, Harry racked the balls for a game of pool. Nev summoned butterbeers as Dobby popped in with some snacks.

"Thanks Dobby. We were thinking of ordering pizza tonight or do you want to try baking it?" Harry asked.

"Oh, Dobby already mades dough so we can make pizza of our own tonight if yous wants. Is went with Missy Luna to the pizza place and learned how." Dobby smiled as he bounced in place.

"Sounds like fun." Nev took the first shot.

"Okay. We'll do that when Pads gets home." Harry groaned as Nev sunk the first shot.

"Do you know if we have pineapple Dobby?"

"Yes Her-mine-ee. We haves it all sliced up." Dobby smiled.

"Good to know. Thanks Dobby." She smiled at the elf as he popped out. They played a few games of pool, watched the news and just generally acted like the teens they were until Sirius came home around 6.

"Why are you home early Sirius?" Harry was concerned.

"Because there was a break and nothing was getting decided, so I came home. The trials will be done in two weeks. Then you boys are going to have to spend some time in our sessions." He sat down and sighed. "Your Gran Nev is a bloody dynamo in session. She just steamrolls over any objections and makes you think it's your idea. If I hadn't grown up with Frankie I never would have noticed it."

"What?" Nev asked.

"How manipulative she is. I noticed early on how Frankie could get whatever he wanted from anyone. I learned to study how he did it and your Gran does the same damn thing." He chuckled. "I swear the only person he never managed to do that to was your mum. He couldn't string two words together with her around our first year. Then when they started dating, she somehow knew when he was trying to do it to her and she'd hex him." Nev and Harry laughed at that idea.

"Could Dad talk to Mum her first year?" Harry asked.

"Oh yeah. He could talk to her from day one. Couldn't stop being a prat around her though. He'd try to show off and she'd give him this look I've seen you use." He took a swig of his beer.

"What look?"

"The one where you're beyond pissed but you don't want to let anyone know."

"Oh I hate that one." Hermione piped up.

"All the boys in our dorm knew to stay away when he had that look." Nev added laughing.

Harry heard Teddy in his room. "Well, since you all seem to be laughing at me, I'll go get someone who likes me!" He fake pouted as he walked down the stairs.

"I love him but he can definitely be a prat sometimes." Hermione sighed.

"All men are prats, just in different ways." Luna agreed as they all went down to the kitchen to make pizzas.

HP

After making pizza, everyone went up to watch Star Wars: A New Hope on the VHS player. While both Luna and Neville were getting used to the technology in the muggle world because they were spending so much time with Harry and Hermione, Star Wars amazed them.

"I love that little droid, what's his name?" Luna asked

"R2? The little white one?" Harry made sure as she nodded. "Yeah. That's R2-D2."

"How do they make the films? Muggles don't actually have machines like that do they?" Nev asked.

"Not those exactly but humans have walked on the moon." Hermione offered. At the thunderstruck looks on the purebloods' faces, Harry and Hermione turned to the adults asking for help.

"Don't worry." Dora laughed. "I know all about that. My mum may come from the same blood-purist stock as Sirius here but my dad is muggleborn and exposed me to everything muggle."

"I knew that because my best friend was married to a muggleborn—and she was bloody smart." Sirius grinned.

"We really need to change some of the core classes at Hogwarts." Hermione mumbled as she bit her lip.

"Oh no." Harry looked at Nev with fear on his face. He stage whispered to Nev. "This is when she'd run to the library at school and we wouldn't see her until she was done—which may be two days later." Everyone but Hermione burst into uproarious laughter.

She looked up from her musings, stood up in front of the three men on the couch with her hands on her hips and looked at them crossly. "If it wasn't for my trips, you and you." She pointed to Sirius and Harry. "would each be dead at least once. If I hadn't taken an interest in all my classes, I wouldn't have had the time turner to save you, Sirius Orion Black. And If I hadn't loved research you, Harry James Potter, would have died several times over. So don't get all high and mighty, as though my curiosity is a problem when it's benefited both of you!"

Harry stood up and took his love in his arms. "Mione we're just teasing. I love that you're so inquisitive—it's what makes you, you. And I love you just the way you are." He could feel her relax into his arms at that moment.

"What do you mean, we need to change some core classes?" Luna interrupted.

"Anyone magical, no matter what their bloodlines, should know about the mundane world. There are so many more mundanes than magicals that we need to learn how they live—even if it's only so we don't blow the Statute of Secrecy." Hermione theorised. "There should be an overhaul to the Muggles Studies class. They should teach about modern muggle inventions such as the VCR and telly along with how to deal in the muggle world with money and transportation and such."

"That would be so helpful to all of us non-Mundanes" Luna said enthusiastically.

"Then we could have a Wizarding class about how the Wizarding government works and the etiquette we purebloods grow up with that you first-generations don't. That could help you out." Nev threw out.

"Mum would be good at teaching that class because she's lived on both sides of the divide." Dora contributed.

Sirius was smiling at the interplay between everyone. He just sat back and let the ideas flow. However, he did take up a notebook and pen, which had become more prevalent in the house than parchment and ink wells, and started writing some of these ideas down.

"You know, since we're talking about an overhaul of Muggle Studies why not overhaul history, so we can include mundane history as well." Harry added.

"Why not include more muggle classes like English and Maths. At least lower maths before Arithmancy. I used to love Maths class. Learning Physics and Biology would be better than Divination." Hermione suggested. "That way if first-generation witches want to continue their study in the mundane world, they can."

Sirius was on to his third page of notes by now. "These are great ideas kids but you won't get anything done until you talk to Minnie." He grinned at how they blanched—as though just realising he was in the room.

"Are you suggesting we go to Headmistress McGonagall with these ideas?" Luna clarified.

"Yes. These are good ideas. If we can teach more about non-magicals, we can prevent the kind of bigotry we all have faced growing up." Sirius said. "I think you guys could put together a proposal that would get Minnie interested. What do you think?"

The three teens looked at each other but eventually all looked at Hermione. "What are you looking at me for?" she demanded.

Sirius and Dora started chuckling when Harry took his girlfriend into his lap. "We can give ideas and help talk to McGonagall but you're the best at this kind of report writing. Can you do it? Please, love?" He kissed her lips.

"Fine but we're going to need more ideas than this. Do we want to include ideas about how to change Transfiguration, Charms and Potions?"

"They've already hired a new Potions instructor because Slughorn doesn't want to stay." Sirius informed them.

"Who is it?" Nev asked.

"Don't know."

"Okay. What else?" Hermione asked. They stayed up so late that Nev and Luna stayed the night in two of the free bedrooms.

**Saturday 30 May 1998**

The next morning, Hermione woke up to Harry and Teddy asleep in bed with her. When she turned onto her side, she saw Harry laying on his back with Teddy laying on his stomach and Harry's arms wrapped firmly around him.

She smiled as she thought of little boys with beautiful green eyes and bushy brown hair. They would have such cute babies together but she didn't want to jinx her new relationship by bringing things like that up. She'd always considered herself to be a woman focused on her school or career goals. She'd never really thought of having her own children.

Sure when she thought she was in love with Ron, she'd thought in an abstract way that she might have one child but no more. But lately she'd been thinking of how wonderful it would be to have Harry's children.

These were no abstract thoughts either. She's been having dreams that she would be pregnant by the end of this school year. On several occasions she had dreamt about giving birth at Hogwarts with Madam Pomfrey. While the idea of having Harry's child had grown on her the last month, she –at least consciously—didn't want to even think of when.

Thinking about it now, maybe she should get some birth control potions because she DID NOT want to get pregnant before she even got engaged. Even though her dad liked Harry, she didn't think he'd approve of that.

"What has you thinking so hard, love?" Harry asked.

She came back to the present as she focused on his words. "Nothing. Just thinking I need to go to the apothecary to get birth control potion soon." She smiled at the hopeful look on his face and chuckled softly, Teddy hadn't woken up yet so they were speaking in whispers. "It's going to happen soon love. I want to be ready when it does, so sue me." She attempted to get up when he beckoned for her to come closer.

"I love you Mione. I don't want to push you but I'm glad you're thinking ahead." His eyes were so earnest, she had trouble looking away.

"I'm just glad we're talking about it. I've heard horror stories at school about people not feeling comfortable about how fast a boy wants to go and I've always been a little nervous about my first time." She took his head in her hands. "I'm so glad my first time will be with you Harry."

"And I with you love." They pulled apart as Teddy wiggled as he woke up on his Godfather's chest and the moment was broken. Hermione got up and looked at the clock.

"It's nearly nine. Want to deal with Teddy while I shower?" She asked.

"Yeah." He answered as they got up.

"Why are you and Ted in bed so late? You usually get up with him at six."

"Well, we all got to bed so late that I brought little man to rest with me after getting him fed and we both fell asleep." He gave her his lopsided grin.

A little while later, Hermione took Ted down to the kitchen and saw Nev and Luna drinking tea. As she sat down, Dobby brought her tea. "Thanks Dobby."

"You're welcome Her-mine-ee." He squeaked as he went to cook.

"So how'd you sleep last night?" She asked her friends.

"Wonderfully." Luna answered. "And this morning we had our own set of clothes on our nightstands. I think Dobby did that."

Hermione turned to Dobby. "Did you get Nev and Luna's clothes for them Dobby?"

"Yes Her-mine-ee. Did Dobby do wrong?" He asked a little fearfully as he wrung his hands.

"No Dobby. Thank you for taking care of everyone. You did brilliantly." She smiled at the little guy and he smiled back and went back to work. Turning to her friends, she said. "You know, you could keep some things here so you can stay the night if you want."

"We wouldn't want to put you out." Luna answered.

"You wouldn't be. There's more than enough bedrooms." Harry interrupted as he came in with Sirius and Dora.

"That's why we bought such a big place." Sirius informed them. "Besides, I like the noise."

"Okay. That'd be great." Nev replied. "We could go home this afternoon and pick up some things to keep here."

"Luna, I need to go to Diagon today. Want to come?" Hermione asked as talk turned to more about what they were doing this weekend.

"Can we watch the next Star Wars movie tonight?" Nev asked eagerly.

Harry and Hermione laughed. "Of course." Harry answered.

HP

Hermione and Luna went to Diagon to get the potions Hermione wanted. They also spent some time, and more than a little money, at the bookstore. Coming out Luna laughed. "We should never be allowed into a bookstore without supervision. You and I are too interested in too many things."

Hermione laughed as well. "Yeah. I think we finally purchased ten books each, yeah?"

"It might be more. You know the boys are going to tease us." Luna warned as she laughed.

"Yeah but I like my books so they can tease all they want." She said mock-petulantly. Luna just laughed as they apparated to her house and packed a few things and talked to Xeno a bit.

They got home just as lunch was being served. Dan and Emma were there talking to Sirius, Harry and Dora. Emma was playing with Teddy in the bouncer.

The rest of the day was spent with Dan teaching Harry, Nev and Sirius how to play football. Sirius magicked goals on the green of the Quidditch pitch.

The women, meanwhile, were up in the library organising the new books. Then they took some books out in the sun and sat on the terrace as they listened to the men play and rough house for a good part of the afternoon. Hermione also sent Hedwig out with invitations to the Weasleys, minus Ron, Lady Longbottom, Andi Tonks and Xeno to come for the afternoon tomorrow to play and eat.

"I'm thinking with how busy we all are during the week that maybe we have a family get together on Sundays, at least this summer." Hermione offered.

"I think that is a great idea." Emma answered. "It means your father and I get at least one afternoon with you a week."

"I think it's a very good idea." Luna contributed. "You, Harry, Nevvie and I see each other almost every day. However, we're all working on our own projects. Yet we never see anyone outside our little quartet during the week. Nevvie even tells me that the boys have stopped inviting the twins to lunch because they feel they need to get back to Gringotts quickly. I think it will help us recharge on the weekends too."

"That's sort of what I was thinking too." Hermione acknowledged.

**Sunday 31 May 1998**

The next morning, Hermione and Luna decided to spend some time carving runes into two new phones. They were going to give them to their boys because they knew the boys would be separated at Gringotts this week. They were going into their vaults to inspect and catalog every item they have.

Luna thought it might be a good test to see if the phones work for long periods and underground. Meanwhile, Harry took Teddy to watch he and Nev play pool because Dora had nixed the idea of taking him swimming until he was eight weeks.

As Harry was racking the second game, Nev asked, "Why do you spend so much time with Teddy? I think it's brilliant that you do, but why don't you let more people help Dora?"

"I guess because I didn't have Sirius in my life and want to make sure Teddy knows that he can rely on me." Harry thought about it. "I guess, I also know what it's like to not have parents and I want to let him know at least he has me."

"Makes sense. We got a raw deal—all three of us—and you want to see it not affect him as much as it did us." Nev theorised.

"Exactly. You know, you will be a presence in his life too." Harry replied.

"Of course mate. I love him too." Nev picked Teddy up off the floor and cuddled him while Harry shot.

HP

That afternoon, everyone showed up with swimming trunks and Quidditch on the brain.

The twins were the first to show up in lurid, neon green robes. "Hey there Hermione." Fred began.

"How you doing?" George finished.

"Hi guys. Everyone's out on the terrace." She directed as Bill and Fleur came through as they waited on more arrivals. These greetings were apparently expected if you were the Lady of the house and Sirius had declared since they were dating Lords, that made Luna and her Ladies! When everyone was on the terrace, she heard Harry suggesting Quidditch, then a swim, then dinner. Needless to say, everyone was enthused with that. Again, Nev and Hermione didn't play but stayed in the stands and watched while the less Quidditch mad adults sat on the patio outside the pavilion and talked.

A little while later, Dan suggested Sirius, Arthur, Xeno and he go kick the football around.

"Dan, do you think these wizards will be able to play football?" Sirius asked teasingly.

"I'm up for trying something new." Xeno replied as he took off his robe to reveal more muggle clothes underneath.

"Wow Xeno." Sirius whistled. "You're wearing jeans and a tee shirt. Most wizards have a hard time dressing like muggles."

Xeno looked a little sheepish. "Luna brought them for me from one of her trips into muggle London with Hermione."

"Always good to have a woman do your shopping." Emma piped up to everyone's amusement. "Heaven knows what Dan would choose if I didn't pick it out."

"Hey! I'm not that bad." Dan objected.

"Yes dear." Emma agreed placatingly, which made everyone laugh.

"It's the same in the wizarding world." Augusta added. "Gerald was the same way. So was Frank. Alice bought all his clothes."

"Yeah." Sirius grinned. "I remember Lily and she would go out and buy Frankie and James both their wizarding and muggle clothes. I used to tease them about it."

"I do a good job of dressing myself." Arthur said proudly before Molly snorted.

"Yes dear."

"How did this become beat on the men day?" Dan asked as he got up. "Come on guys." He waved at them to follow him to the pitch and started explaining football. Soon the men were laughing as they fell down trying to kick the ball.

The women just sat talking about their kids. "I can't believe how much Neville has changed this last year." Augusta said.

"I think everyone's changed. Some, like Neville and Harry, for the better. Some, like Ronald, not." Molly replied.

"How is he doing?" Dora asked.

"He seems to stay in his room a lot. He seems mad at the world. I'm not sure that he's going to go back to Hogwarts come autum." Molly paused. "And I'm not sure that I can do my usual of demanding he go back."

"From what Hermione tells me, it seems that Ronald may need to experience a little hardship to see himself straight." Emma suggested, not really knowing what to say but wanting to help. "Maybe you should have him work with the twins for the summer and see if he wants to go back to get his NEWTS after a few months of that."

Molly became thoughtful for a few minutes. "I think I'll talk to Arthur about that."

At that moment they heard Teddy whimpering through Dora's wand. A second later Dobby popped in. "Does Mistress Dora want me to gets little Master Teddy?"

"Yes please Dobby. Could you bring him out here for me?"

"Yes Mistress."

"House elves are a gift straight from Merlin when it comes to children." Augusta smiled.

HP

When Harry caught the snitch, the game had gone on for two hours and everyone was sweaty. The men had come in a long time previous and had now been talking politics of both the wizarding and muggle worlds as they headed to the pool.

Sooner than Hermione thought possible, they were eating dinner. She and Luna were sitting near the twins on purpose that evening. "Hey George" Hermione began. "Luna and I have been working on a project to bring the telephone to the magical world and we were wondering if you could test it for us. We'll give you a cell phone and you call us every once in a while this week. We don't have to talk, you can dial my number and just put it on the counter and see how long it lasts until it fritzes out."

"Okaaaay." George said skeptically. "What exactly do you have in mind?"

"Well, we need to see first how long it will last not being used but in a magical environment. So you'd take it home tonight, we'll pick it up tomorrow morning to see if it needs charging. If it does, we'll take it home and charge it and bring it back to you tomorrow. If it lasts all week like that, then next week we'll have you call us and stay on the phone for several hours at a time. We may have more devices for you to test after that."

"How much are we getting paid for this?" Fred inquired. At that the girls squealed and slapped hands as they began hugging each other. They began talking price once they calmed down.

**Monday 1 June 1998**

The next day, Harry got up with Teddy and began breakfast. After breakfast, Dora and Teddy were going to her parents' house and Sirius, Harry and Hermione were going to their weekly meeting with Lady Longbottom.

Hermione had brought with her a spiral notebook, a sheaf of paper and an expensive fountain pen, along with some cheap biros for Lady Longbottom.

"This is a what is called a spiral notebook. It will keep all of your papers in one place. I prefer these to loose paper." Hermione began as she took both the notebook and the papers out of her pack and put them on the coffee table. At this Augusta looked very pleased. "This is a fountain pen. It's a little closer to a quill than most muggles are used to. And these are just ordinary biros." She finished as she put both on top of the paper and got out her own equipment.

"Thank you, Hermione. I thought you might have forgotten." She smiled at the teen. Nev was a little concerned by his Gran's reaction. Gran rarely smiled and yet she was smiling a lot lately. Maybe it was time to have a Healer look at her. After all, she was getting old. And she was not acting like the strict Lady Longbottom that he'd grown up with. She never lets anyone call her by her first name.

"So what's on the agenda today?" Harry asked.

"Allies. I understand that both of you will not take on your seats in Wizengamot until at least next year. Even then, you may decide to leave your seat in the hands of one of us." She pointed to Sirius and herself. "However, it is important that you learn what alliances are, how they manifest themselves in Wizengamot, who you are allied with and who you are most likely to be allied with in the future." She paused. "We also have to discuss who we are going to nominate for the empty seats when all the trials are finished next week."

The youngsters then got a crash course in the history of Alliances, going back to before the founding of Hogwarts. "Now, the Potter line goes back before Hogwarts. I know there are volumes in your vault that tell your family history back to the founding of Camelot, as there are for the Longbottoms." Looking at the boys' gobsmacked expressions, she laughed.

"Wait a minute, how do you know that?" Hermione inquired.

Augusta smiled proudly at Hermione for asking. "Well, my father-in-law George was in the same year as Fleamont Potter, who was Harry's Granddad. They grew up together just like every generation of Potters and Longbottoms do. My Gerald learned both family histories because Monty hadn't had a child yet. We had copies of the Potters family histories in our library until James was born. Then they were returned." She sighed "You see, Monty was afraid if he had no children, the family history would be lost, as is the case with most extinct lines, and he didn't want that. When James was born, Gerald gave them back.

As I was saying, because of that fact, we know that both the Potters and Longbottoms go back to the time of Camelot. Now, the Longbottoms and Potters have been Allies since that era. There are also several other old families that can trace their roots back that far. I know the Bones', Beckwith's, Blacks, Churchill's, Montague's, Notts, Peverell, and Sewlyn's can as well. These were all Knights of Camelot. When Camelot fell, these families went into hiding. It was not a safe time to be a witch or wizard. Some, like the Montagues and Sewlyns left Britain altogether for a while. Others, like the Longbottoms and Potters, stayed and tried to live amongst the muggles. However, that didn't work very well, so we went into true hiding. One entire generation of Potter and Longbottom females were killed by muggles in the 900's.

It was when the French came in 1066, along with their own magical community, that we came out of hiding. It was at this time that the 10 original families were reunited and started a Ruling Council. While these ten families were the Founding Members, they brought in several cadet branches. This means, for example, that the daughter of a Black married a wizard named Lovegood, so the Lovegood's were brought into the Council. By 1200, there were 25 families and they all sent their children to Hogwarts, just like now, so they all grew up together from age 11 on. Now, you'll notice that the Montague's are not on the Sacred 28, nor do they appear in Wizengamot. This is because the Head of the Montague family tried, unsuccessfully I might add, to kill the Head of House Black. They were banished for several centuries due to this.

Traditionally, out of the Founding Members, Bones, Potter and Longbottom have been in an Alliance since that time. If it's not on paper, it is in actuality true. We have also been traditional allies with Ogden and Doge. The six of us are traditionally the core members of our Alliance; although members come and go with the times. For instance, when the Weasleys had a seat, they were our ally. And yes, I found out it was a Cannons game they lost their seat for." She smiled as the three youngsters and Sirius burst out laughing. When everyone had calmed down except Harry, she asked, "May I ask why that is funny?"

"Gran, Ron is a diehard Cannons fan. He won't even remotely root for another team." Nev answered.

"His room is done in Chudley orange. It looks like someone vomited orange all over." Hermione finished.

"Hmmmm." Augusta nodded.

"You mean to tell us Augusta that Harry's family goes back to Camelot?" Hermione asked with a sparkle in her eyes as she stopped laughing.

"Yes. They fought alongside William I when he was subduing the island and they also fought for the Lancastrians in the War of the Roses." At Hermione's excitement, Augusta looked at Harry. "You really should get those journals. Hermione might want to take a look at them." She loved seeing the kids so excited about family history.

"So, who makes up the Longbottom Alliance at this moment Gran?" Nev asked.

"Right now it's just Amelia Bones, Charles Abbott and us. I believe we'll at least be able to add the Potters and Blacks' as well. That brings us up to five."

"Yes you can." Both Sirius and Harry agreed

"Of the current families, I would like to add the Greengrasses and Bulstrodes as they are both at least neutral Houses."

"I can see that." Sirius confirmed. "At least we could have a non-aggression agreement with them if they don't want to join our Alliance."

"That's what I'm thinking." This discussion lasted until lunchtime.

HP

At lunch, in the Longbottoms dining room that could seat at least 20, they started discussing who they wanted to fill in the open seats in Wizengamot.

"Next week is the last week for trying the Death Eaters. It looks as though all those that have family seats on Wizengamot are going to be stripped of the seat. We need to come up with possible replacements for those seats." Augusta began after lunch was served. "Whom do we want to propose?" she questioned.

"I think McGonagall and Weasleys would be good choices." Hermione volunteered. "I think Headmistress McGonagall deserves it for how many years she's already shaped our society by teaching. If she doesn't have the time to make it to all the sessions, she could send her brother Malcolm in her stead and only come for the big votes. And, as much as Ron is a prat, his family is not. I think they deserve their seat back." At this, everyone nodded.

After lunch, they returned to the sitting room. "I think Justin should get a seat." Harry said softly. "He's a muggleborn in our year that, while he can be a pompous prick, is generally a decent guy and, like I said, he's a muggle born. I think that it's important to have a few of those."

Over the early afternoon, they came up with a list of about 20. Not all would be nominated as there weren't that many seats open, but they wanted enough back up names in case some didn't get elected.

HP

When the three residents of the Madhouse returned, there was silence. "Something's wrong. It's too quiet, yeah?" Sirius looked to the kids, who nodded as their battle senses came to the fore. Wands out and with their bodies ready for a battle, they went into the kitchen. No one was there.

They then split up to search the house. On the second floor, Sirius came upon Dora sleeping in her bed. He went to the nursery, where he found the little man asleep. He went back to the entrance hall "They're in their beds." He grinned as both kids relaxed as their senses went back to normal as they went up to the game room and sat with butterbeers.

"It won't be until the end of next week, Harry, after all the trials, that you'll need to start coming to Wizengamot meetings with me in the afternoons. That's why this week is still going to be with Ted—organising and itemising everything in your vault. Then next week, you'll work with Ted in the mornings and come with me in the afternoons." Sirius said.

"Sounds boring." Harry muttered.

"It is." Sirius snorted. "But it's needed."

Eventually, Hermione went to the library for what she called 'a bit of light reading'. Harry snorted and choked on his drink as she left. After he got himself under control, he racked the balls and put a 20 note down on the bumper. Sirius got up and chalked a cue.

"Put the money away kid. I've learned not to play you for money." Sirius ruffled his hair. Harry just smirked at him. "So how're things going with Hermione now?" He asked his Godson.

"Great. I love her Sirius and I can see spending the rest of my life with her." He replied earnestly.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Last week when I was going through the properties I own?" Sirius nodded. "All I could think was what part of the property she'd like most. Or how we'd really enjoy wandering around Rome together. How much fun it would be to take our kids on day trips from our houses. I can see a future for us that I can't wait to start."

"Merlin, you've got it as bad as your dad did." Sirius smiled at how alike Harry and James were—and how different.

HP

The rest of that week was very calm for the quartet as a whole but very difficult for the boys. Starting on Tuesday, Hermione and Luna spent part of every morning in Diagon Alley talking to each other on their phones. By Thursday, the phones had not fritzed out on them and they had had several two to three-hour conversations every day. They were ecstatic and were planning on buying a laptop that weekend and starting on converting it to work around magic.

The only issue they were having was that they had to bring it home Thursday night and charge it because the battery had run out. They needed a way to make the battery use the magic around it to recharge it.

**Friday 5 June 1998**

They were in Flourish and Blott's researching possible protection charms on Friday morning. Hermione was looking out the side window when she saw Harry walk very quickly toward the tea shop next to Fortescue's with a very sad look on his face. She ran over to Luna, who was sitting in a chair with a Charms book. "Luna, I just saw Harry walk into the tea shop a minute ago. I'm going to see how he's doing."

Luna looked up. "Good. I'm sure he needs you."

Hermione didn't know how to answer that so she just smiled and left. When she walked into the Tea Shop, she saw her love sitting in the back with tea and a journal. She sauntered up to him. "Funny seeing you here stranger." She smiled as she startled him out of his reading. He smiled slowly and put down the journal. "What are you reading love?"

"Nothing much. What're you doing here?" He asked.

"We were at the bookstore and I saw you walk in here very sadly." She gave him her best 'tell-me-now' look. He sighed and gave her the journal.

It was red and gold and said L.M. Evans Year Three on the front cover. It was clearly his mum's journal. She took his hand and squeezed it as he looked down at their entwined hands. "Do you have all of them?" she asked, assuming he had more than this one.

"Yeah. There's one for every year from first year at Hogwarts to her death." He said quietly.

"How are you doing? Reading this has got to be hard for you."

"Yeah. But it's nice, you know. I get to know them—finally. That makes me happy but it also makes me sad because they aren't here." He sighed as he looked up from their hands. "Do you understand? Does that make sense?"

"Yes it does. You're glad you get to know them but at the same time mourn that you didn't get to know them personally. Am I close?" She asked as she hugged him close.

"Exactly."

"Is that the first one you've read?"

"Yeah. I probably should read them chronologically but this one is funny." He smiled. "When mum wouldn't go to Hogsmeade with Dad on their first trip, Dad charmed them together and wouldn't undo it." He laughed. "Mum found McGonagall in the village and had her undo it. He got detention for a week. Mum didn't think that was enough." He looked up at Hermione and noticed the look of vengeance on her face. "What?" He asked fearfully.

"Did your mum get him back?"

"I don't know yet."

"I hope she found some creative way of getting him back. I'll ask Sirius tonight. You might want to bring those home to read." She smiled as she noticed he was feeling better. She was about to get up when the door banged open and Luna rushed in like a blur.

"I found it Hermione. I found the Charm or the basis for a charm to recharge the battery. It's so simple. I don't know why we didn't think of it." She took a deep breath as she ran out of breath. "Come on!" she started to pull at Hermione.

"Hold up Luna." Harry interrupted as he pulled Luna to sit down. "Calm down before you explode so you can explain." She finally sat down and closed her eyes as Harry and Hermione exchanged glances.

When they looked back at their blond friend, her eyes were open and she was much calmer. "What?" She asked. "You said calm down, that's how I do it."

"Super." Harry stood. "I have things at Gringotts I have to do." He bent and gave Hermione a kiss. "Thanks for letting me vent, love." Then he left and the girls got up to leave as well.

They decided to go to the Rookery to test the variation of the new charm out on a phone because they didn't want to blow up the house and could shield the land around the Rookery more easily.

Hermione did the protection spells while Luna made the changes to the Charm. They cast it.

"Well, it didn't go boom." Hermione laughed as she took down the wards. Luna took the phone. "It's charging." She reported happily. They took it

back to WWW to recharge. The twins would bring it Sunday.

HP

That evening, they decided to watch Empire Strikes Back because they had not watched it the previous weekend. After the movie, they began talking about things the boys had found in their vaults.

"I found some really amazing books that I brought home to add to our library." Harry said. He looked at Hermione. "I went through the vault and found hundreds of books that I thought you'd like. There's even a copy of your favorite book that was printed in the 1500's."

Her jaw dropped and stayed there for several seconds. "I think you broke her." Dora laughed as Hermione got herself together.

"Where are these books?" Hermione asked with that innocent expression that he knew not to trust.

"They'll be delivered tomorrow." Harry laughed as the innocent look became murderous.

"Are you telling me that you told me about this but didn't bring them home?"

"Yes. I knew that if I brought them home, I'd lose you tonight. So I asked Swordback to send them tomorrow." He could see her giving his statement serious thought as he waited for her response.

"Well, I guess I can see that." She nodded her head.

Dora chuckled as she handed the bottle and baby to the Godfather. "Glad you're not going to blow the house up."

"Come here little man." Harry cooed to the baby.

"So, what did you find Nev?" Hermione asked.

"It amazed me how much furniture was in the vault. There was some really nice bedroom furniture that I want to use in my own space one day."

"You can move it in here if you want." Sirius offered. "You've started spending nearly every weekend here along with some week nights. You should have furniture that you like" Sirius sighed at the looks of disbelief on the kids' faces. "Even if you weren't Frankie's son, you're Harry's best mate. You deserve a place here. And you know I like the noise. Much better than the solitude of Azkaban or the screeching of my mum's painting." He smiled. "If it were up to me, every bedroom would be filled on the entire estate."

"Thanks Sirius." Nev smiled. "I'll do that. There was also a painting of my mum and dad that I sat and talked to yesterday."

"That's great. They talked about doing that but I wasn't sure whether it happened. You can bring that here too if you want."

"Maybe. I just like knowing I can talk to them now."

"So, have you guys given any more thought to what has to change at Hogwarts?" Dora asked. Hermione popped up and ran down the stairs. Everyone looked at Harry.

"Don't worry. She'll be back with her notebook in a minute." He grinned as he summoned a Coke. "You know, I really like living part-muggle, part-magical. I just hope we can bring phones and computers to Hogwarts this year."

"You will. Phones definitely, computers we'll start on this week. The battery charms should be the same. I'm hoping to streamline the runes for getting it to initially work around magic." Luna confirmed as Hermione came back and cuddled to Harry on the beanbag chair.

Harry noticed the notebook in her hands and grinned at everybody. "Told you." He stuck his tongue out.

"I took the ideas we had last week and put them into two major categories. They are: possible new classes, and changes to the current classes. I'm also thinking we should add some sort of muggle sports so Quidditch isn't the only sport they have."

"Maybe we could also revamp the points system so it's more fair and evenly applied throughout the school." Nev suggested. "I know Snape's not there anymore but who's to say the new teachers will be any better."

"Good point." Harry contributed.

"Maybe we should ask for organised sports to be mandatory?" Luna submitted.

"Is there anywhere on the grounds to put a pool and training center of some kind?" Hermione asked as she saw her love's eyes light up. "Harry?"

"The Chamber. We could clean the dead basilisk out and turn that into a workout space." He grinned.

"Are you telling me that the basilisk is still down there?" Dora squeaked.

"Yeah. Why?" Harry looked at her confused.

"Harry, if you killed it, it's yours. You could sell it and get the money from it. Assuming it is still viable." Sirius explained.

"Could we put that money towards paying for these improvements?" The raven-haired teen asked.

"Yeah. But you could keep it too."

"I don't need it Sirius. I've more than enough gold for my heirs three generations down the line not to have to work to keep themselves comfortable. Hogwarts needs it if we request these changes." He was nearly attacked with kisses and squeals by his beautiful girlfriend. Which, of course, he took great enjoyment in receiving.

"You are amazing, my love." Hermione whispered into his ear as they came back to earth. He just looked dazed as the others laughed.

"We'll go to Gringotts tomorrow to see if they can render the snake and sell it." Sirius informed the group.

"We need to go to a computer store tomorrow to buy one or two laptops." Luna reminded them.

"I have a Gringotts card for you Hermione." Sirius got up to get into his jeans back pocket. "I gave one to Harry and I got one for you." He handed a card to her.

She frowned as she took it. "Why?"

"Because I know you and Luna are going to be buying a lot of electronics this summer. This is my opportunity to invest in something I think is important." He replied as she got up slowly, then pounced on him.

"Thank you, Sirius. Thankyouthankyouthankyou" She nearly bowled him over as she jumped into his arms, wrapping her legs around him. "This means I don't have to spend my savings. I have enough. I was just hoping to save that money for a house someday."

He just laughed as she got on her feet again. "You need to save your money. This is my contribution. Although I want a phone so I can talk to you all when you get up to Scotland. That's my price." He grinned.

"Of course." She grinned right back. _They actually look like niece and uncle, _Dora thought as she watched Hermione and Sirius interact. Looking at her baby and Harry she thought sadly, _and they look like they could be father and son_._ Why can't his actual father be here. Gods I miss Remus. I miss his strength, his kind heart and his love of everyone around him. Gods I miss him._ She was thinking these things as everyone else was talking and joking around her.

When she came back to the present, Hermione was asking Sirius and Harry, "So when are you lot going to Gringotts tomorrow?"

"Right after breakfast." Sirius responded. "And, yes Nev, you're coming with us. You need to know these things too."

Nev opened his mouth, then decided better. "Fine. You'll just tell Gran Sunday if I didn't go to learn how this is done. And I'd never hear the end of it."

"Come on." Harry intervened. "Your Gran isn't bad. At least you've always known she loves you. Besides that, she's just a neat person."

"You like her so much, you can have her. I'll trade you Sirius for Gran any day." Both boys laughed.

"No. I like Pads. But I'll take your Gran if you don't want her." Harry replied.

"You're barmy, mate."


	9. Chapter 9

**Ch. 9**

**Saturday 6 June 1998**

The next morning, Harry woke up to what he had begun thinking of as his "Teddy Alarm". It was six o'clock and Teddy had woken and started cooing.

As he began to get up and wandered into Sirius' room, he wondered when Teddy would start sleeping through the night. If he was fed between 10 and 11 at night, he usually stayed down until 3 but then he'd wake up at 6.

"Come on, little man." He said as he picked Ted up and started towards his room. "We'll get you changed then go make breakfast." He whispered to the baby as he changed the nappy. After getting him dressed, they went downstairs. "I'm going to really like it when you can walk." Harry muttered as he put Ted in the bouncer. He noticed that Ted was starting to wave his hands and start tracking them. "You're getting to be such a big boy. Why don't you try and sleep all night now? It'd give your mum and Uncle Padfoot a break." He continued talking to Teddy about everything under the sun as he got breakfast ready.

At 7.30, the Grangers floo'd over for breakfast, like every Saturday. When everyone was at the breakfast table, Hermione said, "Since you boys are going to Gringotts today, Luna and I, along with Mum and Dora if you want to come, are going to find computers and tellies to work with."

"Okay. We're expected at Gringotts in half an hour." Sirius said. "Do you need a portkey?"

"Sounds great." Hermione replied as Sirius made one.

"Remind me to teach you the spell tonight." Sirius said as he handed it over. The men left as Hermione asked Dora and Emma, "Do you guys want to come with us?"

"Sure." Dora said as she got up. "Let me get more clothes for Teddy, then we can leave." The other three heard her trip up the stairs as she went.

"So, how'd your week go mum?" Hermione asked.

"Well. We still don't have as many patients as we used to but that will change gradually. To tell the truth, it's quite boring at home now. Although we do go out to dinner more." She smiled. "It's taking some time to adjust to."

"Well, I'm glad you're adjusting and you can come here for dinner during the week, you know." Hermione replied. Dora came back and they left for their shopping.

HP

Meanwhile, the men were on their way to Gringotts. They had decided to floo directly to the bank because it was Saturday and they knew Diagon would be a madhouse and they didn't want to have to deal with the commotion being Harry Potter caused.

They walked in and asked to talk to the Head of Acquisition and Trade. Soon, a young-looking Goblin came to get them. He led them through the twists and turns of the back offices until they reached Master Sharptooth's office. "Master Sharptooth, Lord Black is here to see you." The escort said as Sirius, Neville and Harry came in.

"Hello Master Sharptooth." The three said in unison.

"Hello." He replied as the young one left and he waved them to the seats in front of the desk. "What may I help you with?"

"Well. My Godson here." Sirius said as he put a hand on Harry's shoulder. "has killed a basilisk. Granted it was five years ago and in the bowels of Hogwarts' Chamber of Secrets but we believe it's still there." He took a deep breath. "We were wondering if there was a way to render and sell it."

Sharptooth got a greedy look in his eye. "You say you killed it young man?" Harry nodded. "Then it is yours to do with as you please. We can send a team in tomorrow to take care of it. Can you get approval from the Headmistress?"

"Yes. I can do that this evening." Sirius then paused. "Do you have a floo? I can firecall her now if you want."

"Of course, you may use that fireplace." He said pointing to the one in his office. Sirius went over while Sharptooth asked, "Will there be any tricks to get in?"

"Yes. I'll have to open it, it opens with Parseltongue."

"I see." He said as he looked at his parchment. "I see Teams A and B are free tomorrow. Can you meet us there at 8 a.m.?"

"Sure." Harry agreed as Sirius sat down again.

"She says she'll have Hagrid meet us at 8 at the gate." He looked back at Sharptooth and put on his Wizengamot face "So Sharptooth, how much is this going to cost?" He asked calmly. And they bartered for the next 2 hours deciding who got how much.

HP

The women got home by 11.30 that morning with five laptops and five tellies. They had taken them from the mall towards a secluded alley where Dora shrunk them and fit them into Emma's purse. They then portkeyed home.

"Where do you want these?" Emma asked as Dora took Ted upstairs.

"Luna, do you think the cellar will do?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah. I don't think anything will get fried down there." She responded as they walked down to the cellar through the kitchen. It was there that the electronics were taken out of Emma's bag and resized.

They extricated two computers and headed upstairs with looks on both their faces that said they were already working on the problem. _In some ways these two are more like sisters than friends,_ Emma thought. _I'm so glad Hermione has people that love her for who she is. But like most sisters, they're alike in some ways but not others. _Emma thought about Luna's interest in strange animals which Hermione would have to see to believe in.

When she got upstairs, she heard the floochime and went to see who it was. She smiled when she saw Sirius, Harry and Neville coming home.

"Hi boys." She greeted them.

"So, how'd your appointment go Sirius?" Emma asked at the lunch table a few minutes later.

"Well. I had to negotiate with them to bring down their cut of the profits but it worked."

Neville nearly spewed his juice out. "Is that what you call negotiate, Sirius?"

"Yes." He replied looking as though he had done nothing wrong.

"Emma, at one point, when he'd gotten them down to only taking 25% as a fee, and they didn't look like they were going to come down more, he turned into Padfoot and started growling and stalking around the room-like Sharptooth was prey. They came down to 15%." Neville informed her.

"Was it really that scary?" she asked because she couldn't imagine a mad Padfoot. Sirius changed to Padfoot, walked up to her, whined as he put his head on her lap. "Oh you are so cute in this form Sirius." She began to pet him. Then he started growling, pulled his head off her lap and started barking and showing his teeth as he stalked the room. It was such a complete shock as his face turned menacing that she whispered, "What the he-!" at that point he turned back into happy Padfoot and put his head down on her lap. Then he moved away and became human.

"That's how Emma." Sirius said proudly.

"I have to say, if I didn't know you, I'd be scared too."

"Bloody hell Sirius! That's frightening." Dora actually looked scared.

"I assume your shopping went well?" Harry asked trying to change the subject.

"Yes. They bought several different brands of both tellies and computers. Teddy had a blast." Dora opined.

"Did he stay up all morning?"

"No. He took a small nap around 9 and he's down now. Why?"

"Just wanting to figure out when he wakes up." Harry looked a little sheepish.

"You just can't get enough of him can you Harry?" Luna teased.

"Nope not even close. He's the best thing to happen to me since Hermione." He answered proudly. At this Dora burst out crying and ran up the stairs. Harry looked at Hermione, then Emma, then Sirius. "What'd I say?" He looked horrified.

Sirius looked at Harry sadly. "Moony and I had nearly the exact same conversation the day before the Battle. He said Teddy was the best thing since Dora."

"Oh bugger." He got up and ran up to Dora's room. At her closed door, he knocked. He could hear her sniffling. "Dora, can I come in?" He asked softly. She opened the door, motioning him inside as she sat on the divan next to the fire. "I'm so sorry Dora. I didn't mean to upset you." He looked at a loss as how to make her feel better.

"It's not your fault Harry." She tried to smile through her tears. "It's just that Remus was as much in love with Teddy as you are and it suddenly hit me that he's never coming back. Most days, I get through and can ignore the pain of his death but there are some days it really hurts. We were married for less than a year and you remember how scared he was when he found out about Teddy?" He nodded at that. "Well, after you went to the Ministry and didn't come home, he was even more terrified. Not about the werewolf issue but about us all getting out of this alive. Now he's dead and I really have no idea how to be a mum, let alone a single mum. That's why I spend so much time with my mum." She continued sniffling as tears ran down her face.

"You have us you know." Harry offered. "If you need anything, even just someone to scream at, I'm here. Moony was as close to an uncle that I had, that makes you my aunt and I will always be here for you Auntie Dora." At that pronouncement, she burst into wracking sobs once again. Harry reached over and brought her into a hug and just let her cry. He really had no idea how to deal with crying females and was hoping he was doing the right thing.

She spent a good ten minutes crying. When she finally calmed down, Harry realised that she'd fallen asleep on his shoulder. Not really comfortable with anyone but Hermione sleeping on him, he didn't know what to do. Deciding that it would be best to untangle themselves and let her rest, he extracted himself from underneath her and laid her on the divan to rest. He then went into the nursery, saw Teddy was still asleep and decided to sound-proof this room and set his wand as the baby monitor to keep Ted from waking Dora. He then went upstairs to the game room where he heard talking.

As he came up the stairs, Sirius approached him, looking concerned. "Is Dora ok?" He asked.

"Do you have Grief Counselors at St. Mungo's?" Harry asked.

"Yeah we do. Why? Is she not okay?" came the rapid-fire questions from his Godfather.

"No. She needs to see someone. I don't know whether she should go alone or we should go as a family but she needs someone to talk to."

"With the amount of nightmares you have love, you might want to see one too." Hermione added.

"Maybe we should all get a check-up." Sirius said warily. Before this last war, Sirius had never heard of a wizard having mental health problems. If a person was depressed, in the Black family, you were taught to just get over it—not get help for it. When he'd come to Grimmauld, and Remus started coming around, they did a lot of talking about how Sirius was doing mentally.

While Sirius accepted that he might feel better if he got some help, the war took a turn and it was put on the back burner. Now, he had to figure out how he felt about seeking help. Somehow, he felt that he should be strong enough to deal with his own problems without anyone's help. However, since the family wanted them to try this, he would—even only just once.

"Sounds good. I'll make a family appointment on Monday." Hermione declared. They all heard whining coming from Harry's wand as he jumped up and thundered down to the nursery.

**Sunday 7 June 1998**

The next morning at 8 sharp, Harry, Hermione and Sirius landed at the gates of Hogwarts. Just as Harry was getting his bearings, he'd gotten better at doing that quickly during the hunt, the Goblins arrived. While Hagrid was leading them to the castle, Sirius sent a Patronus to the Headmistress letting them know of their arrival.

They all trooped to the second-floor bathroom where Harry opened the sink, paused for a second and called for stairs and took them down. He then opened the door to the actual chamber and everyone except Harry stopped.

When he realised no one was following him, he turned around with a confused expression on his face. "Aren't you coming?" he questioned impatiently. He really didn't want to be down here and just wanted to get this done.

"Mr. Potter, we severely underestimated the price. It is going to go for at least double what I quoted. Do you want to do anything different in dividing the profits?"

"No. Ten percent each to Hermione, Colin, Penelope Clearwater, and Ginny Weasley. Fifteen percent to Gringotts. The rest for Hogwarts remodeling if they choose to remodel. And new brooms for each house." He confirmed. "Do we need to stay while you do this?"

"No. We will render it and use Goblin Portkeys to get out."

"Thank you, sir." Harry bowed as he looked at Sirius and Hermione. "Let's get out of here." He pulled them both out behind him.

When they got to the gate, Hermione found her voice, "I never realised how large that thing was. That was huge!"

"What she said." Sirius echoed as they apparated home.

HP

The rest of the afternoon was taken up with the regular Sunday Quidditch and swimming. It was after dinner when Hermione made the announcement. "Luna and I have properly runed and charmed a few extra phones and wanted to know if any besides the four of us want phones for themselves."

"We do." The twins said.

"You say that I could call Luna from my house while she is staying here?" Xeno asked.

"Yes Daddy. You want one, right?" Luna asked, knowing her dad wanted a better way of communicating with her when she was in the muggle world. He just nodded as Hermione handed him one.

"May I have one please?" Augusta asked. Hermione handed her one. She then gave one to Arthur, and Ginny as well.

"Okay, anyone that has a phone needs to follow me and we will teach you how to use it." Luna said in an assertive voice. Gone was the shy, soft-spoken Luna who only talked about wrackspurts and nargles. This new Luna was smart, concise and every bit as levelheaded as Hermione herself. Hermione was really growing to love Luna like a sister and was proud of her newfound confidence.

Hermione made sure everyone was in the drawing room: the twins, Xeno, Augusta, Arthur, Ginny, Sirius, Dora, Harry and Neville. Hermione took out her phone and flipped it on its back. "Everyone look at the back of the phone please. There on a small strip is your phone number. This is the number you give to people so they can call you. Memorise it." Luna handed out a piece of paper to each person with a list of everyone's name and phone number on it.

"Now to call someone you open your phone." Luna said as she demonstrated the flip phone design. "Choose someone to call. I'm choosing Daddy. I press the buttons in the order they are in the phone number" She put her Dad's number in. "Now I press the send button." She did. "And daddy's phone rings. Now daddy, since yours is open, to answer press the send button." He did and held the phone like she did. "Hi Daddy."

He looked at her but said into the microphone. "Hello my Luna."

"Now to end the call, just press end." He did and closed the phone.

"Now we'll divide you into pairs and one will go to the sitting room and practice making a call to each other." Hermione said in her best Professor McGonagall voice.

They, along with Harry and Neville (after practicing with his Gran), Emma and Dan, went around answering questions and teaching. By the end of the evening, everyone had made several successful phone calls.

"I love watching everyone learn something new." Harry commented enthusiastically to his girlfriend as he grinned widely, kissing her. "It's like the DA again."

"You just like teaching." Hermione laughed as a look of dawning comprehension came over his face.

"I think you're right!" He said hugging her. "I think that's what I want to do after school."

"Told ya Luna!" She yelled over Harry's shoulder.

She looked up. "Huh?"

"Harry wants to teach." She told her friend.

Luna sighed, growling playfully. "Couldn't have waited till after graduation, Harry?" she took out a galleon and handed it to Hermione. "There you go."

"Did you guys bet I'd want to teach?"

"No. We bet when you'd get your head out of your arse and figure it out." Luna laughed at the shocked look on his face.

"You made a bet?" Harry asked his girlfriend. "You hate betting. What happened?"

"We fought a war and I relaxed." She grinned.

A few minutes after everyone left for the night, everyone at the Madhouse got a call from someone else. Harry, Hermione, Neville and Luna went to bed very happily.

**Monday 8 June 1998**

The next morning, everyone, including Dan and Emma, was at breakfast at 7.00. As they sat eating Dan was a little skeptical. "So everyone last night had never used a phone before, let alone a mobile, yeah?"

"Well, the twins and the four of us had but no one else." Hermione returned.

"Did you get any calls last night?" Emma inquired.

"Yes. Everyone got some calls last night."

"It's just so hard imagining not growing up with at least a house phone." Dan added. "It's amazing they're all able to catch on. Especially with no previous experience."

"Yeah. Now the girls will have to figure out how to get computers to be compatible with magic." Nev grinned at his girlfriend with pride. "But you two will figure it out."

"I swear, each one of them is smarter than the two of us put together." Harry laughed. "I have confidence they'll do it.

"So Sirius, would you or Arthur like to go to a Crawley Town game on next Saturday?" Dan asked, knowing Sirius' answer.

"I'd love to!" Sirius bounced in his seat. "I'll see if Arthur or Xeno want to go." He got up to head to the sitting room to floocall Arthur, when he felt in his pocket for the phone. He called Arthur who said he'd love to go. Xeno said the same.

"Brilliant. I'll get the tickets today." Dan grinned. It was so nice having another man around.

"Why don't you kids bring all the notes you've put together about Hogwarts." Sirius suggested. "I talked to Augusta yesterday because she's on the Board of Governors and she wants to talk to you about it."

"We're not ready for a presentation." Hermione squeaked as she ran upstairs. She was back a minute later with the notepad. She started writing.

"What are you doing?" Sirius asked.

"She's rewriting her notes." Harry sighed as he took Hermione's pen and he took her hands in his. "It's okay, love. Gran isn't going to want to look at your notes. Bring them so we can reference them but she'll be fine with scribbled notes for now."

"Do you think?" Hermione asked quietly.

"Gran's awesome. She knows these are just ideas. She'll be fine." He looked in her eyes and saw she was calming down so he put her hands down and went back to his food.

"Harry, did you notice you called my Gran, Gran a minute ago?" Nev said unbelievingly.

Harry thought about it for a minute. "I guess that's how I see her. I mean, she's the oldest person I know and she's teaching me. I probably shouldn't call her that to her face though." He grinned.

"Actually, I think she'd love it. She told me yesterday that she's starting to see you as another grandson." Emma contributed. "And wishing she'd been able to raise you."

"Then maybe I will."

HP

When they got to Longbottom Estate and they'd formally greeted Lady Longbottom, Harry took an extra moment and said, "Lady Longbottom, I would formally like to ask for your permission to call you Gran if you will allow."

She gave him a smile, took a step closer and hugged him. "I would be honored if you'd call me Gran." She said as she kissed his cheek. "I should have raised you Harry. I'm so glad to get to know you now."

"If your parents had all lived long, healthy lives, you would have grown up as near brothers." Sirius put in. "Alice and Lily were very close friends as were Frankie and Prongs."

"You know Sirius, he really didn't like you calling him Frankie." Augusta sniffed haughtily.

"Yeah, I know. That's why we did it." He smiled. "It was either we call him Francis or Frankie. He scared James when he called Frank Francis, so Frankie stuck." He laughed at Augusta's disapproving look.

When everyone was seated in their usual places in the sitting room, Augusta started out. "I understand that you four have been spending your free time talking about how to change Hogwarts. Can you tell me about the changes you see needing to be made?"

Hermione took a breath. "Muggle Studies needs to be completely revamped and the textbook needs to either change or be rewritten. It's at least a century out of date. It says that cars are only for the wealthy and for short distances. Nearly every adult in the Industrialised World has access to a car. My parents have a car each. Aeroplanes are treated the same way. Apparently, there have been no technological advances since the Wright Brothers made their first flight or so wizards believe. Did you know Americans have been to the moon and back? You've seen the advancement with telephones and paper yourself."

Harry put an arm around her. "Don't get so upset, love. It's okay."

"What do you two think?" Augusta asked Neville and Luna.

"Look at it this way Gran, part of the reason I stay at the Madhouse" Augusta grimaced at the name. "so much is because I can read anytime I want and not strain my eyes."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, the electricity? used" Nev looked at Harry to make sure he said it right, Harry nodded. "in their house, let's you turn on a light at midnight so you can read clearly."

"You can do that with candles." Augusta replied.

"Not as clearly. Come for dinner tonight and I'll show you the difference. We'll eat inside. Usually everyone leaves on Sunday before we turn on the lights. During the day, we use the sconces around the house for extra lighting but at night it's absolutely amazing" Neville enthused.

"Fair enough." Augusta looked at Sirius to see if she could visit this evening. After all, it wasn't Neville's house and it would not be proper to just come to dinner.

Sirius grinned, realising where she was coming from. "You are welcome at our table at any time. We eat around seven except Sundays."

"Do you have a recommendation for the new text?"

"Not yet. We were going to look for one tomorrow." Luna answered.

"I would also suggest you hire a muggleborn to teach it. Hermione said timidly. She wasn't sure if she was going to get yelled at for that suggestion. After all, all the teachers she had come in contact with were half or full bloods.

Augusta looked a bit warily at Hermione when she said, "I'm not sure how the Governors are going to feel about that."

"It makes sense to have someone who is familiar with that world to teach about it." Sirius reminded Augusta.

"I'll think about it. "Augusta said. "Now what other courses need changing?"

"History." Sirius, Harry, Hermione, Luna and Neville said in unison.

Augusta burst out into raucous laughter, which she hadn't done much since she married Gerald. "That's needed changing since I was there. And I know Minnie will help. She and I used to punch each other if we were about to fall asleep." At all of their dumbfounded faces, she just chuckled. "Yes, Minerva McGonagall and I were in the same year at Hogwarts, both Gryffs but she was much more independent that I."

"Please say you can fill us in on all the dirt, Gran!" Harry bounced in his seat like a puppy.

"After you're out of school dear." She patted Harry's hand consolingly as he pouted and the others laughed. "Anyways, look for a new text there as well girls. What's next?"

"In the core subjects such as defence, charms, runes and transfiguration, we feel there needs to be more emphasis in class on actual spellwork, not the theory. We need the theory but we need more help with actually making the spell work." Hemione suddenly became very passionate. "Personally, I would use Professor Flitwick's class almost as an example. He spends most of class helping the students who need it rather than on theory. The other thing we need is to learn more spells that we'll use in our day to day life. We may never use a cheering charm but the charm to clean the dishes I learned from Mrs. Weasley, yeah I needed those. When I think of not having had Mrs. Weasley teach me the housekeeping spells and having to clean up after Ron and Harry this last year, it actually frightens me. But I didn't learn those in school. Do you understand what I mean?"

"Yes. I think I do." They spent the rest of the day going over the outline Hermione had put together. When the question of money came up, Sirius looked at Harry and smirked, knowing his godson wasn't going to like being known as the benefactor for all of this.

When Harry realised his godfather was hanging him out to dry, he started. "You remember the petrifications in our second year?" Augusta nodded. "Well, at the end of the year, I killed the basilisk doing the petrifying." He sighed. "Turns out because of that, it's mine. I asked the goblins to render and sell it. They're giving each victim ten percent of the proceeds, taking fifteen percent themselves and giving the rest to Hogwarts on the condition they use it for these changes. It is going to each individual and Hogwarts as an anonymous donation so no one will know it's me. You must not tell anyone about where the money's coming from."

Augusta just stood there staring at this young man. "Harry, it's your money. Why are you doing this?"

"I don't need it. Better it go to things I'd like to see changed than having it sit in my vault. Don't worry, there will be at least a million galleons for Hogwarts when all is said and done."

They talked about the changes they'd like to see made to the Chamber and why, points application, the implementation of computers at Hogwarts and muggle sports being sponsored.

Around four, everyone but Augusta left for the Madhouse. Because Teddy was asleep, Harry and Hermione decided to go to their room and rest. They laid out on the bed and just cuddled together with their shirts off. "That was exhausting." Hermione groaned.

"Yeah but I think we got Gran on board. Especially with the money taken care of." Harry started playing with Hermione's hair. "I love the way your hair feels." He sighed.

"You're silly but if that's your thing, have fun." She smiled into his chest. "I like to listen to your heartbeat." She admitted.

"So we're each a little silly." Harry laughed as she smiled as his chest vibrated.

"Do you think any of this will work?" Hermione asked. "It seems like in Wizengamot you guys aren't getting very far with reforms and if the Governors won't take us seriously, I'm afraid we'll have to leave Britain to get good paying jobs. Most, if not all, Heads of Departments in the ministry are either half-blood or purebloods. So going into the Ministry isn't really an option for me, as much as I'd like to work to help different magic users have the same rights. If you want to teach, it might be better to go out of country because it'll take several years for anyone to retire."

"You might be right love. Let's just see if we can do anything about these things before we pass our NEWTS. If we don't see any changes by then, we can talk about going elsewhere."

"I hate waiting but okay." She smiled up at him. "I love you Harry."

"I love you too." He said as they fell into a comfortable silence just spending some alone time together.

Soon enough, Harry heard Teddy cooing on his wand and got up to put his shirt on. "Hey, who said you could remove my pillow?" Hermione complained as she sat up.

"Sorry love. Teddy's calling." He smirked as she put on her shirt "You don't have to do that love." He whined.

She just smirked. "You're the one that got up, dear."

He just huffed as he left the room. _I'm going to finally get him to stop being a noble git soon,_ she thought as she went up to the game room where everyone was congregating.

In some ways the game room with its pool table, dart board, Telly and comfy seating, fireplace with more comfy seating and the bar area had become more popular than any of the rooms on the ground floor except the kitchen for the residents of the madhouse.

In the game room right now were Sirius, Dora, Nev and Luna. Luna was currently on the phone to her father. Nev was playing Darts. Sirius and Dora were sitting by the fire talking. Hermione sat down next to them.

"You guys finally awake?" Sirius asked.

"We weren't asleep, we were just resting." Hermione answered.

A few days ago, they had discovered a small bathroom that led into a medium sized bedroom on the other side of the wall from the game room. They had not noticed it on the tour originally, which was just weird.

Thinking about the bedroom, Hermione wondered aloud, "Maybe that bedroom is hidden from muggles."

"Maybe. I don't see why though." Dora answered skeptically.

"This is an old house. Maybe they used it to keep something illegal." Sirius offered. "That's what a lot of the old pureblood families did. Maybe it wasn't always a bedroom."

"I don't think we'll ever know." Said Harry as he walked into the room with Teddy in his arms. Teddy was beginning to be a lot more interactive as the days passed.

"Has he been fed?" Asked Dora.

"Yeah. I just got him fed and was thrown up on." Harry grinned. "It's a good thing I know cleaning spells." He handed his godson off to his mum and sat down next to his girlfriend and took her hand.

Nev got a phone call from his Gran at about 6.30 saying she'd be there in 10 minutes. When she arrived, they walked into the drawing room and Neville turned on the lights.

"Wow. This is bright." Augusta said as she blinked her eyes. They spent the rest of the evening talking about how they would revamp Hogwarts. They also talked about hiring new teachers.

"In a muggle school, they aim to have a student to teacher ratio of 25:1. That way students and teachers are better acquainted and feel more comfortable with each other. I think we have a ratio of about 60:1 at Hogwarts." Hermione added.

"Okay. What I would like you youngsters to do this week is write out a proposal that we can take to the Board. I talked to Minnie this evening. I called you, Neville from inside Hogwarts. We would like you to put together a rough draft of a presentation that you can show Minnie on Saturday. I told her we would either meet here or at Longbottom Estates, have dinner, then you would show us what you have." Augusta said. As Hermione started to hyperventilate as she began thinking of everything she needed to do, Augusta took her hand. "Hermione, this is a rough draft. Do not stress yourself out. This is just Minnie—not the board—this is where she'll help us iron out the issues. Look at it as you're bringing an idea to her that she'll help you polish." She smiled as Hermione calmed a bit. Then she turned to Nev and Harry. "And you two are to help her, not leave it all up to her." They nodded like boys being scolded by their teacher as they looked down at their plates.

"Yes ma'am." They said together as Sirius, Dora, Augusta, Dan, Emma, Hermione and Luna laughed.

"I think I'll call Ted and let him know the boys will be working on this this week." Sirius said as he went to floocall Ted. When he got back a few minutes later, he sighed. "Ted said to get this done first and if you have time to come in later in the week."

After dinner, the teens went up to the game room while the adults went to the drawing room. Gran left around 8.30. She wanted daily progress reports on how their work was going.


	10. Chapter 10

**Ch. 10**

**Tuesday 9 June 1998**

The next morning Hermione woke up before Teddy. She went down to the study to start writing plans. By the time everyone had come down for breakfast, she had several notebooks—all with different plans. She had one notebook for each class she wanted changes to. Then she had another notebook for policy changes at Hogwarts. Finally, she had another for how much things would cost.

When she got to the table, she said, "I need to go into town this morning for more supplies. I'm not doing all this work on parchment, so I'm going to Quality this morning."

"Okay, use the card I gave you." Sirius replied.

"Want some company?" Harry asked.

"Sure. Why don't all four of us go so if we need more, we can send you and you'll know where it is?" Luna and the boys all agreed.

As they were all leaving the table, Hermione's phone rang. "Hello. . . . . okay, have him buy one and you bring it to me tonight and someone will fix it. It'll cost him 25 galleons. . . . Good. I'll see you tonight after 8."

"Who was that?" Luna asked.

"George. Lee wants a phone done for himself. I told him we'd do it for 25 G. Luna do you think you could do it?" Hermione answered.

"Sure." She smiled as she went into her room to change. Once everyone was ready, they met up in the entrance hall. However, there was an addition—Harry was carrying his godson.

Nev laughed, "I swear, you can't go anywhere without the kid."

"Nope. He's my buddy." Harry grinned at the boy. Hermione grabbed Harry and Luna, who had ahold of Neville, and apparated to Quality Office Supply.

"Luna, we need a printer so we can Rune it too." Hermione threw out.

"Sure, I'll go find one." She took Neville's hand and they left. Harry and she went to get things like staplers, binders, loose paper, in/out tray, file cabinets for the study and all sorts of other things. Halfway through, Harry went to get a trolley.

"Are you sure we need all this?" He asked Hermione as he set Teddy in the baby seat of the trolley.

"No. But it's better to have too much than too little." About half an hour later they were done and apparated back to the Madhouse. By lunchtime, Hermione had the study set up the way she wanted so that after lunch, the quartet went into the study to work the day away.

Except for Tuesday night when Luna did the Rune carving and Charming for Lee's phone, most of the days were spent working on this presentation. Wednesday morning, Luna and Hermione went to Flourish and Blott's and found new Muggle Studies and History texts for those two classes. They also found a book on Wizarding Culture and Etiquette that would be good for the first and second years.

By Friday afternoon, they had a working presentation wherein, they each talked about part of the plan. Even Hermione, who looked as bad as she did before their OWLs fifth year from lack of sleep, was surprisingly happy with the overall presentation.

During most of the early evenings, while they ate and took a break from the presentation, Luna and Hermione worked on the computers. On Friday evening, they left a computer in WWW with instructions not to play with it but to bring it Sunday.

Of course, after not working on the presentation until about eight o'clock, they would go back to work until about 11. Then, at least for Hermione, she'd be up at five.

When they got back from WWW on Friday evening, everyone decided to take a break. "Why don't we watch Return of the Jedi tonight?" Nev proposed.

"Sure." Harry pitched in. So they spent a relaxing evening watching movies and just having a good time

**Saturday 13 June 1998**

Saturday was a tense day for the teens. Everyone felt the stress of performing tonight. Each person was dealing with it in their own way. Harry was focusing on playing with and taking care of Teddy. Sirius had closed and warded the study so Hermione couldn't work on the project anymore. Consequently, Hermione was pacing the house or walking outdoors. Luna had taken to sunbathing or swimming. Neville was sitting by the pool reading a Herbology text.

On Friday night, which by all accounts is a particularly loud night in the Madhouse, Sirius had noticed that the volume had doubled. Realising it was nervous tension about the next day, he'd decided to ward the study because he knew Hermione would be in there editing unnecessarily unless stopped. He saw how tired she'd been this week and was so concerned he asked Harry to join him in the study before bed Friday.

Sitting next to the fireplace, he began, "Harry, I'm worried about Hermione. She hasn't been sleeping. She doesn't eat much and if she bites her bottom lip anymore, she'll bite through it." Harry laughed.

"Don't worry Padfoot. This is mild compared to the week before OWLs. She hasn't started yelling yet.It's when she does that that you've got to worry."

Padfoot looked worried. "Still. I want you to let her get as much sleep as possible. Don't bring little man into your room, that sort of thing. Just take care of her. Please."

"Don't worry about her. She'll be fine come Sunday. I've dealt with this behaviour before." Harry understood that Padfoot was actually more worried than he was saying, so when they stood, he gave the old dog a hug. "She'll be fine Pads."

"I hope." Sirius muttered as they went to bed.

Saturday morning at breakfast, Sirius did a surreptitious study of Hermione to see how she was. She actually looked like she felt better and had had a good night's rest.

Around mid-morning, Sirius found Hermione sitting in the kitchen with a mug of coffee.

"Hey hon." He greeted as he sat down next to her. "How're you doing this morning?"

Hermione looked up and smiled. "I'm okay Uncle Sirius. I'm just nervous. Someone warded the study and I can't work on the project anymore."

"You called me Uncle." He stated gobsmacked.

"It just slipped out. Sorry. It's how I refer to you in my head."

"I like it. I've never been an uncle." He beamed with pride. He took out his wand and held it to each shoulder as he intoned "I dub thee Niece Hermione-at least until you marry my godson." He took her hand and kissed it in the courtly manner of old.

She giggled. "You are such a nutter, Uncle Sirius."

Then Sirius said more seriously. "I love you, niece of mine."

She sat on his lap and hugged him Hermione-style. "I love you too nut." She then got off him and went outside to sit with Nev.

Around four-thirty, everyone went up to change into their dress robes. Nev and Harry didn't see the need for them but didn't dare tell Hermione that. At five o'clock, the floochime rang twice.

Hermione and Harry, along with his godson, met both Minerva and Gran in the sitting room. After all the greetings, Harry said, "Why don't we go into the drawing room, where we can set up easily?"

Everyone followed but Hermione who moved into the now unwarded study to get the posters they had put together. She then set them up in front of the fire where everyone, including Dobby, was now sitting.

Minerva stood up. "I understand you have been working non-stop since Tuesday to make this presentation. I have to say I'm already proud of all of you for your dedication to trying to improve Hogwarts. I will promise that if I find something in your presentation that I know won't work, I will tell you and we can come up with something else. I would like to work on this with you on this so that we can take it to the Board at the end of the month." She sat as Hermione stood.

"We, as students, feel there are problems with a few courses at Hogwarts. First is Muggle Studies. The text that I had for third year was a joke." She began as she turned the first board, which described all the problems and how to fix them. "First, the text being used was written in the 1920's. Muggle technology has moved so far that the Americans put a man on the moon nearly 30 years ago. We now have telephones in our pockets." She held up her cell phone. "This means we can talk to someone in America without feeling so dizzy we need to steady ourselves from the floo before we talk. We can also fly to New York in less time than it takes the Hogwarts Express to make its journey. The text needs to take these breakthroughs into account. Students also need to learn about muggle dress so they blend in better. One of the biggest problems most wizards have is that they dress so old fashioned that they seem odd to muggles. Wizards also need to be aware of cameras on the streets. They may apparate into an empty alley but be caught on film. This can lead to the Statute of Secrecy being breached. All of these things are not taught in the current class. We found an appropriate text at Flourish and Blott's. We also think a muggleborn or half-blood should teach the class, since they'll have more actual expertise in the field. Do you have any questions Professor?"

"Everything you say makes sense and I like the changes. However, most of the Governors are going to have a field day with a muggleborn teacher." She grimaced.

"Well, excuse me, but screw them. No pureblood has any experience in the muggle world and therefore is unable to teach it." Nev responded crossly. He got a 'look' from his Gran.

Harry stood up and turned to the History board. "Now, we all know Binns has to go. He can stay teaching but since he doesn't care if he has students, we should get an actual History teacher. One that will teach muggle as well as magical history. They can take first years and give then a general overview of both histories. Second year, they can talk of both histories in Britain. Third year, they talk about Europe. Fourth could be Asia. Fifth could be Africa with reviews for OWLs as well. Sixth could be the Americas and seventh could be Australia and a recap because they'll be facing NEWTs. We've found books for all years. Just get a teacher that knows both magical and muggle history; actual history, not just Goblin Rebellions."

"That is actually a well thought out plan, Mr. Potter." Minerva smiled at him.

Nev stood up and turned to the Wizarding Class board. "Now, what we are suggesting here is not a change but an addition. We need someone who can start with first and second years and teach Wizarding Culture and Etiquette as well as

Muggle Culture and Etiquette. This way, wherever you come from, you can get along in each society. Our whole aim is for understanding between purebloods and muggleborns so that it can't be used to divide us like it did with Voldemort. I suggest you get a muggleborn and pureblood to run this class. Or at least someone like Dora's mum, who has lived on both sides." He sat down and Luna got up.

She turned to the Points Given and Physical Activity board. "One problem we have had in the past is that points are not given out fairly. One teacher takes 50 points for breathing too loudly while another gives the same amount for being first to do a spell. This leads to a lot of resentment on the students' part." She said while McGonagall nodded. "The other thing we noticed is there is only one sport: Quidditch. We would like to introduce muggle sports such as football and swimming, maybe rugby and cricket as well. This would again get both muggleborns and half-bloods into more accessible sports and hopefully bring in purebloods as well."

"Swimming? There's no place for a pool." McGonagall said.

"Yes there is." Harry responded. "We can clean out the Chamber, put in a new access and put one down there, along with a muggle gym to help everyone keep in shape."

Hermione got up and turned to the board labeled Muggle Classes. "I don't know if you know, but I've been taking muggle courses during summer and winter hols to keep up with my muggle classes; in case I decide to go to uni. I think we should offer the core subjects like maths, science, and English so everyone has a choice to go to uni, whether muggleborn or pureblood. This year, we can offer it as correspondence courses until you can find muggleborns to teach this. You might even consider hiring muggles."

Both Minerva and Gran snorted at this. "The board will never approve a muggle for this. That'd break the Statute of Secrecy." Minerva stopped laughing finally.

"I'm sure some of the muggleborns' parents are teachers. Heck, my parents could teach science!" Hermione replied.

"Okay. I'll put some thought into that." Minerva said. "My question though is how to pay for all this."

"A lot of the basilisk money will pay for this." Harry replied firmly.

Minerva looked confused. "I understand that's your money, Harry."

"Yes. I'm giving some to the victims and the rest to Hogwarts to use for these changes. I'm insisting that the money be used to do things to promote wizard-muggle relations here, however." He answered.

Harry could see Minerva's eyes glisten as she said. "Thank you. We've needed some of these changes for generations. This will help tremendously."

"If we can get the board to agree." Augusta chuckled.

"Oh I'll make them agree." Minerva used her Professor voice as they all laughed; knowing that she'd taught a lot of the board members. They knew not to cross her.

Everyone then headed to dinner. As everyone was settling into their dinner, Minerva asked, "So Sirius, I understand the trials are done now, is that true?"

"Yep. Now it's on to filling all the seats this week. We have to come up with 'worthy' names to take these seats and everyone thinks they've got the definitive list." Sirius laughed.

"Who's on your list?" She returned.

"You." He gave her a smile as she dropped her fork and, for the first time in Sirius' life, she had absolutely nothing to say. "We're trying to nominate people who have done something worthy for the magical community and that aren't purebloods. You fit the bill. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have survived first year with all the rubbish my family was giving me. I know Remus thought very highly of you because you knew his issue and still treated him like a wizard, not a creature. We need the Wizengamot filled with people like you Minnie. You won't need to be there except for important votes but this is a good symbol that we're trying to promote—worthy people not just hereditary seats."

"Okay. I see where you're going with this. I'll serve if I'm elected." She smiled and then muttered, "Oh boy" as they ate dessert.

**Sunday 14 June 1998**

Sunday was a typical extended family afternoon and dinner. The major difference was that Angelina and Alicia, the twins' girlfriends, came up to Hermione and Luna before the Quidditch match. "Hermione?" Angelina asked.

"Yeah Angie?"

"We were wondering if you could Rune and Charm phones for us?"

Hermione smiled. "Sure. Buy them and bring them over tomorrow and I can do it tomorrow night. Would you be interested in a computer? We're working on those now."

"Yes if you get them working." Katie replied.

"They've already been at the twins' store since Friday night and they still work. We checked them before we came out here." Luna answered.

"How much will you charge for the phones?" Angie asked.

"25 G"

"That's great." Katie enthused. "I can't wait to have a computer work in my flat in the Alley."

"With the computer, you may want to pay for internet service but you may need to get someone in to hook it up, which would be problematic unless you live in the muggle world. The same is true for TV. I don't know if we can create a piggyback onto the signal to get internet and satellite tv yet like we did with the phones." Hermione informed the chasers.

"I don't need that right yet but we'll see." Katie said.

"You can always live with me in the muggle world Katie." Angie teased, as Katie was known for always enjoying the wizarding world.

"Thanks girls." Angie said as they left Hermione and Luna.

"You know Luna, once we get the computers and tellies working, we should set standard prices for these things. Maybe we can have Fred and George sell the items and package the "magicking" into the price. Different prices for different items depending on how hard they are to fix." Hermione proposed.

"Maybe we can get Harry and Nev to help us as well if the workload gets bad." Luna suggested.

**Monday 15 June 1998**

The next day was another lesson with Augusta. This time Harry, Hermione and Neville learned about etiquette when dealing with potential alliances, especially with the odd place the three youngsters held in society.

"Today, we are going to talk you through the alliances we have traditionally held, what Sirius and I have reformed and what you need to do to cement these alliances. First, the Black, Potter and Longbottom Alliance has been formed. We have also made tentative members of the Macmillan's, the Abbotts, the Bones' and Shacklebolt's.

There is a courtesy when addressing the Heads of House. Now, with the Bones' Head of House, you, as Madam Bones' social equal-that means that you trace your lineage back as far as Camelot-only nod and kiss the hand for you boys. Hermione, for now, you curtsey to everyone-when you marry Harry, you will nod to the Bones family. To anyone else in our Alliance, you shake their hand or kiss their cheek.

If, let's say Richard Fawley comes to greet you and Hermione Harry, he will nod to you and you in turn shake his hand. This is because you nod to your betters or equals in the social structure. Because he is below you in the order, you accept the nod by shaking his hand. If his wife is present, you kiss her hand. Hermione, once you marry, you accept a nod with putting your hand out for a kiss and you shake Lady Fawley's hand or kiss her cheek. Does that all make sense?

You have to remember that besides you Potters, the Bones' and Longbottoms are your only social equal."

"Wait Augusta. We Blacks are as well." Sirius grinned as Gran gave a start.

"I suppose yes. However, after having spent my entire adult life on the opposite side of the fence as your relatives, I guess I tend to forget the name Black when it comes to Light families." She smiled. "Guess I'll have to correct that." Everyone laughed. "Now, even though the Abbotts are socially lower than you, because you are in an alliance with them, you nod to teach other. In other words, an alliance makes you social equals." She looked at how fast Hermione was typing on her computer. "Are you getting everything Hermione?" She asked politely.

"Yes ma'am." Hermione responded as she finished typing.

"Now, that is only the greetings." She paused, then got her phone and dialed. "Xeno, could you send Luna over? I need to teach these boys to dance and Neville should learn with the person he's most likely to dance with." She listened. "Thank you, Xeno." She hung up.

"Gran!" Nev and Harry said together as Sirius laughed.

"What? You need to learn. I know my Neville knows how but I want him to practice with Luna. And I've heard of your abysmal attempts at dancing from Minnie, Harry. You need, no, require, this lesson."

Nev leaned to Harry. "We're not getting out of this mate. She's got _that_ look on her face."

"Fine." Harry grumbled as he stuck his tongue out at his godfather. Sirius just grinned as they heard the floochime.

"Hello? Anyone here?" Luna asked.

"In the sitting room Luna." Nev yelled.

"Neville! Go greet Luna!" Gran hissed as Nev slunk out of the room. When Neville came back, he was with a giggling Luna.

"Daddy said something about dancing lessons?" She asked Augusta.

"Yes." Augusta smiled at her grandson's choice in girlfriend. She was good for the boy.

For the remaining time before lunch, they danced. With Augusta and Sirius leading the way, the young men learned how to ask a girl to dance, how to waltz, foxtrot and even tango.

Before they went into teaching the tango, Sirius commented, "Now Harry, this was your dad's favorite dance. He loved the fact that he got to hold Lily so close. Nev, your dad hated this dance because he seemed to trip every time they did it at first. However, Alice liked it so Lily worked with him through sixth year to get it right. At the end of year ball that year, he was able to perform it flawlessly." Sirius grinned at the flummoxed looks on the men's faces.

"Why did Lily teach Frank? I would have." Augusta asked.

"You're his mum. Never, ever ask your mum to teach you how to dance!" Neville shivered as Sirius roared and the others chuckled.

"Yup. He knew he could ask you Augusta but he trusted Lily to help with keeping it a secret. Besides, you weren't at school when he needed the help."

"Another person you never get help from is your head of house." Harry grinned ruefully.

After lunch, they discussed that it was better to get to know the children of the Allied families because that would lead to better working relationships later on. Then they discussed what they knew of each of the Allied families' children at school and how they could get to know them better at school this year.

"Now, the Alliance has come up with a list of several families to fill the vacant seats in Wizengamot." Augusta said as she summoned the notebook and pen Hermione had given her. "By the way Hermione, could you get a few more of these notebooks for me?" Augusta asked.

"Sure. Do you want to kit out your study with office supplies like I did at home?" she asked.

She thought for a moment, "Let me look and see what you've done on Sunday, then we'll see."

"Okay." She smiled. If she could get Augusta to accept muggle office supplies, it would make it easier to bring them to school.

"Now, here's the list we've come up with." She made a copy for each. "as you can see, we're going back to 32 hereditary seats, 20 Awardees, and 16 Department Heads. Lord Abbott found a list of the original 32 families on Wizengamot and we are planning on restoring some old families, as you see, and replacing the incarcerated families with either light or neutral families." She smiled. "You have homework this week. Don't whine. It's unbecoming of a Lord." She admonished as Harry and Neville groaned. "Tomorrow, while Sirius and I are in session, you two are to go to Wizengamot Office and familiarize yourself with the voting record of each original family. I'd suggest you make copies of each to take home because I want you to summarize in a few paragraphs what their voting tends to be, light or dark, when it changes and theorise as to why it changes. You can split the list if you want." She looked at the girls. "Don't let them talk you into doing this for them. You can help but they need to understand this, so they need to do the actual work."

Harry and Nev looked at each other as she was saying this and the look of terror on both their faces made Sirius laugh. "James, Frankie and I had the same assignment summer after sixth year. The _exact same assignment_." Then he looked at Augusta as though he just had a major realisation. "Did Gerald and Monty give us the same assignment on purpose?"

"Yes, they planned it. They thought you would have more fun doing it together." She smiled at the clueless young man.

He laughed. "Yeah, we had fun. Each of us took about ten families and shared."

"As we intended." She nodded. "If Frank and James had remained healthy, these boys would have done this a few years ago."

"But that means we each have sixteen, not ten." Harry whined.

"Yeah but there are only two of us." Nev said, lowering his voice. "Harry look at them. I swear they're plotting our doom. We better just up and do it." Neville was resigned to his fate. "When are these due?" he asked Gran.

"Two weeks."

Soon it was time for everyone but Augusta to go home. By three o'clock, everyone was ready to relax and they floo'd to the madhouse.

When they got home, Teddy was up so Harry took him to the game room with him and Neville. As soon as Dora saw Hermione and Luna, she said, "Those boxes are phones from Angie and Katie. They brought them over this morning. Said they'd come by tomorrow morning around 9 to get them."

"Great." Luna smiled as she went to get them. "Hermione, I'll do these while you work on the computers. I want to get those done so we can move on to the tv's."

"Why?" Dora asked as she followed them to the game room.

"Because I want to get a tv and VCR at home. I want to watch Star Wars again!" At that Hermione and Dora laughed.

"So it's really a selfish reason then." Hermione commented as she sat down on the divan with a computer.

"Uh-huh. I guess so." She said as she sat down and started working.

"So, what did you learn at Augusta's?" Dora asked as the girls snickered. "What?" she repeated, more intrigued now.

"We learned how to dance—or rather the boys did. I do have to say that although Harry started out clumsily, he got much better. It was even fun at the end." Hermione giggled. "Then they got homework from Gran."

"I thought grandparents were supposed to be fun, not give homework." Dora said, raising her voice so the boys could hear.

"You'd think, wouldn't you?" Harry replied with a sour look. He put down his cue and sat next to Teddy. "Don't worry, little man, I'll never give you homework." He gave the child a kiss as he got up.

"Don't promise things you can't deliver." Sirius chuckled. "Didn't you see the list of replacement seats? Lupin was one. Which means Ted will inherit it at 17. You'll be giving him the same assignment when he's your age."

Harry's jaw dropped. "Oh bugger." He groaned. "Can't my life be normal?" He whined.

Nev chuckled as he slapped Harry's back. "Remember, life isn't normal for our generation. We talked about this at Fortescue's." He took a shot then he grinned as Harry lined up his shot. It was funny that as long as they'd been playing pool, neither Harry nor Nev paid attention to who won. Really, it was the comradery that both young men enjoyed in the act of playing the game. "Our lives have been made up of how to clean up the mess other generations have left since the last Blood War. We don't get a break."

"I know, I know." Harry grumbled as he took his shot.

"There. The phones are done!" Luna exclaimed.

"Enough of all this maudlin talk." Hermione replied as she worked. "Yes. You have to fix mistakes that have been made. But you're alive to do it. Enjoy the life you have rather than wishing for a different one." She admonished.

"Why don't we apparate to Pizza Express in a little while for an early dinner?" Luna suggested.

"Sure" chorused the rest of the group. The girls then began transferring all the runes and charms that went into the phone to two computers. Once they were done, which didn't take very long, they took the computers to WWW.

"Hello, Hello" one of the twins greeted them at the door. "I see you have computers for us. How can we help?"

They set the computers down on the counter. "Well," Hermione began. "We've done the full set of runes and charms on these two computers."

"By our estimation, they should power themselves through the ambient magic around us." Luna continued.

"We would like to set them up here to keep running as long as they can. You can use them if you want but just leave them off in a corner and we will come here every day to check and see if they're working." Hermione added.

"Honestly, we don't anticipate any problems. However, if it does fritze out on you, please notate the time for us." Luna concluded as they finished setting up the laptop on the counter.

"Now." Hermione said with a much more serious look. "We originally thought that we might fix a few muggleborn friends electronics for free, then start charging for the privilege." She said in what Harry always called her prefect voice. "We are now thinking we are going to get this process patented at the ministry. We would like to expand on the number of people using these devices. We thought we might buy a few different phones, rune and charm them and set up a side display here in your store if you wanted. You would be in charge of selling the 'fixed' devices and we would share the profits."

"That sounds like an interesting offer. Sort of a store within a store." A twin said. Hermione couldn't tell which one she was talking to.

"Do you have a business plan?" The other one asked

"We would need a business plan and a contract with you to even think about it."

"Okay." Luna responded thoughtfully. "Maybe we can talk to Ted tomorrow. He might help us."

When Hermione and Luna had talked about this, they had just thought of a handshake deal, not anything formal, at least until they saw if there was a market for this. However, the logical part of Hermione's brain could see how this would be beneficial.

"Okay, we'll put one together this week and talk to you Sunday about it." Mione agreed as they left. Hermione's phone rang as they left the store. She picked up, noticing it was Harry. "Hey love, what's up?"

"Just wondering when you're getting home. It's half five and we thought we'd go eat." He replied. She looked around and saw people staring at her.

"Okay. Let me get a single book from Flourish's and we'll be home. I'll explain then."

"Okay. I'll see you in 3 hours then." Harry chuckled.

She sighed then chuckled. "I'll be home in 30. I promise." She hung up. She was stopped as she was about to walk in the store.

"Was that a mobile you were using Miss?" a man in his early 20's asked.

"Yes." She answered distractedly.

"How does it work here?"

At this point in the conversation, Luna realised that Hermione's mind was only on getting a book about business plans. After all, without talking about it, that's why they were here. She knew Hermione well enough to know her focus was elsewhere so she said, "Mione why don't you get the book and I'll talk to this bloke about the mobiles."

"Thanks Luna." She said as she wandered into the stacks. Luna pulled the young man to the side of the store and brought out her mobile.

"Hermione and I have been working on a sequence of Runes and Charms that will not only protect the electronics around magic but recharge the battery with the same magic. By the way, I'm Luna Lovegood. Are you interested in one?" She asked, thinking she might make their first sale that wasn't a friend.

"Yes. I am muggleborn and live in the muggle world because none of my electronic work in this world. I currently have a mobile but don't bring it here in case it breaks. They're bloody expensive. So you can really fix my mobile so it'll work?"

"Yes. Bring your mobile to WWW, leave your name and mobile there tomorrow and you may pick it up on Wednesday morning. It'll be 25G. Make sure it's off before you come into the Alley."

"Will you be able to do other devices?"

"Soon. Check in at WWW in the next few weeks. We'll be working with the proprietors of that store to sell our services." She turned around and saw Hermione waiting for her. "Thanks for your interest Patrick." She headed out with her bushy-haired friend.

"Sorry about leaving you to deal with that guy Luna. What'd he want?" Mione asked.

"I'll tell you when we get to pizza." She grinned as they apparated home. They picked everyone else up and went to Pizza Express.

As they sat down, Harry asked, "What took you so long?"

"Well, we got into a conversation with the twins about using their store to sell our 'magically enhanced equipment'." Mione smiled.

"They want a business plan from us." Luna expanded. "So we went to Flourish's to buy a book on how to build a business plan. While we were there, we got our first paying, non-family customer." She smiled. "He saw Mione on her mobile to you and asked how it worked. I told him and he's going to leave his tomorrow at WWW so I can fix it."

"Dora, it looks like we might need your friend at the Patents Office sooner than we thought. If we're going to form a business, we need to protect our service." Mione looked at Dora.

"Sure." She smiled; glad the girls were turning this into something tangible for themselves.

"You know who might be able to help us with the plan is my dad." Hermione said. "He deals with the business side of their practice."

They continued talking about their expectations for the business. When Hermione mentioned that she'd never really thought of her experiments leading to a business opportunity, Sirius laughed. "I knew the moment you told me about this plan and then got Luna involved, it'd go somewhere. That's why I invested."

As they were leaving the restaurant, Harry whispered into Mione's ear, "I am so proud of you my love." As he hugged her.

That evening, Hermione finally came out of the bathroom in the blue teddy she bought with Luna. Feeling bold, she slipped into bed with Harry and saw his eyes glaze over as she took him in her arms and kissed him like they had never kissed before. Her hands were moving all over him as his hands made their way under the flimsy excuse for clothing and to her breasts.

His hands found their way to her breasts as he pulled her teddy off. They spent quite a bit of time finding each other's pleasure centers.

Soon after, they laid sated next to each other and fell into a deep, satisfied sleep.

**Tuesday 16 June 1998**

The next morning, Harry woke slowly, enjoying the sensation of feeling Hermione's naked body curled up to him. He was about to kiss her awake to see if she felt like making love again when Teddy whimpered. Just his luck. Couldn't Teddy give him one day off?

He felt Mione move against him. She really shouldn't do that when he needed to get up. "Better get up love." She said sleepily as she kept moving along him, only making him harder with each move.

"Can't." He groaned. "I already am." Her eyes sparkled as they looked down.

"Damn, you are. Too bad Teddy needs you." She laughed as he twisted to get his boxers and glasses.

"Damn kid." He muttered as he walked into Sirius' room and got his godson. "Your timing stinks, little man. I was about to wake Aunt Mione to see if she wanted another round but nooooo, you had to wake up."

"Frustrated much." Sirius laughed at the look on Harry's face.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to wake you." Harry muttered as he was about to leave.

"Wait Harry." Sirius commanded and Harry stopped to look at his godfather. "Did you and Mione finally do what I'm thinking?"

"If you're asking if we made love, the answer is yes. Last night. Happy now you know all my secrets?" He grumbled.

"No but happy that you're happy kiddo." He slung his arm around Harry as he kissed Teddy. "Now go clean him up. You have to be at Gringotts in less than two hours."

HP

Later that morning, the four teens left for Gringotts. Sirius then left for Wizengamot. Although official sessions did not start until half one, if you wanted to talk business or negotiate anything, you had to be there by nine.

He had forgotten that the oldest families, like the Bones', Black's and Longbottom's had been given offices in the Wizengamot Offices. It had been a concession to the old families when the Ministry was formed. Only the oldest of the families got these offices to lord over all the other families.

As he sat down to figure out who he had meetings with today, Augusta strode in and sat down. "So, how did the boys deal with having that assignment to do?" She smiled.

"Fine. They were more concerned about their girlfriends starting up a business than anything else last night."

"What happened?" She asked as he told her about the encounter in the Alley.

HP

At Gringotts, the teens entered Ted Tonks' office after a bark of "Enter" from Trainee Swordback.

"Ah. I see all of you are here. I understand that you young ladies would like some help with a business proposal?" he smiled as everyone sat.

"Yes sir. You see, we have figured out how to Rune and Charm mobiles so they work around magic. All of our friends and family have them now. We are beginning to get people tangentially related to us to ask for these modifications but yesterday we got a request from a stranger that saw me using my phone in the Alley." Hermione explained in her formal voice. "We suggested to the Weasley twins that they sell the 'magically enhanced equipment' and we do the Rune and Charm work. They want us to bring them a business proposal. We don't know how to write one." Hermione said as quickly as possible.

"Okay. May I look at the book you have?" Ted asked. It was the book from Flourish and Blott's about how to write a proposal. He looked at the book quickly. "This is a good beginning. I want you to sit down and come up with your own proposal based on this book here while Neville and Harry work on their own project today. Tomorrow, I will look at it and we will go through it together to see where changes need to be made. On Wednesday, after those changes are made, we'll do it again until you have a coherent business plan. Yeah?"

"Great." Luna responded as she got up. "Mione, let's go get the computer so we can work on that."

"Good. We can see if they have the phone yet too." Hermione sighed in relief as they left the office. She had a plan and she always worked better with a plan than without.

"Now on to your task." Ted grinned at the young men, rubbing his hands together evilly. "Your task, for the next two and a half months, is to start your rehabilitation project. Using the resources you have, you are to make whatever property you choose profitable or serve the community in some way. We will be having weekly Tuesday morning meetings to discuss your project." He concluded. "I would take today to look at your properties and see which ones you want to use." He pointed to the tables with files of their properties on top. "I would also recommend you visit the property before you decide on it."

"You couldn't have given us an easier assignment?" Harry heard Nev mutter as the boys sat down at their usual tables.

"Of course not. It's Neville's Law." Harry looked at his Godbrother and grinned.

"Huh?" Nev looked confused.

"You're the one that said that our generation doesn't get to have a normal life because older generations have screwed us over. This just seems like another manifestation. We've been thrown in the deep end of our Inheritance because the older generation fucked up and we have to fix it!" Harry grunted as he looked at the first property, which was the land both their fathers bought in 1980. "Nev, how much property do you own on the plot next to ours?" He asked.

"Let me check." He turned some pages as the girls came in and sat down at a smaller desk near Ted's. "It's a total of 100 acres. Why? What's yours?"

"100 as well." He turned to Neville. "I've got an idea but I'm not sure it will work. What if we put our land together and started a farm/ Orphanage / school/ nursery for all the orphans that have been made from this war. We could call it the Lily and Alice Refuge LAR for short. What do you think?"

Nev sat there thinking for a few minutes. "Would it be just for wizarding kids? Or would we take in their non-magical siblings as well?"

"Why not both? It's not like the muggle kids wouldn't be used to magic and it would keep siblings together."

"Okay. Why a farm and nursery as well?"

Harry laughed. "Would you put your heart and soul into it if it wasn't Herbology related?"

They heard the snickers coming from the girls. Nev laughed. "Yeah. I do love my plants."

"I wonder—it looks like it's located between Manchester and Liverpool. I remember from primary school that there are a few dairy farms there. I wonder if we could have specifically a dairy farm." Harry suggested.

"You want to go take a look at the place? It looks like it's just land with no buildings so we'd have to build everything from scratch." Nev looked at Ted. "Ted, if we do this, we would need someone with experience running a dairy farm to help us in this early phase. Would you know where to find one that knows about magic?"

"I can find someone but are you sure you want to concentrate on the dairy farm aspect of the venture." Ted didn't want to dampen the enthusiasm they were expressing but thought it his job to keep them focused on what their goals were. "Maybe you should focus on getting the orphanage up and running before winter. I don't know how many orphans there are but shouldn't they be the main focus right now?"

"You're right. Do you know of any wizarding orphanages we could look at?" Harry asked

"Sure do." Ted smiled. "Andi does some Healer work for St. Mary's in Wales. I also know there's a Hufflepuff House in Scotland that Andi and I donate to. Should I let them know to expect you tomorrow?"

"Yeah. Just floocall me to let us know when." Harry said, then paused. "Mione, could you please magic a phone for Ted tonight?"

"Let me finish this." She held a finger out in a 'wait a minute' gesture as she kept typing for a few more seconds. Turning to Harry, she asked, "Now, what do you need?"

"Can you magic a phone for Ted this afternoon?"

"Okay. I'll go home and do it at lunch." She smiled. "I'll bring it back with this report by three, yeah?"

"That's great. Don't worry. I know how to use a phone." He laughed.

"Want to go pick up some brooms and we can fly around the property?" Harry asked, looking at Neville to gauge whether he was still afraid of flying.

"Sure." He replied confidently. Before they left, they kissed their girlfriends goodbye. If Harry's was a little more passionate than usual, Hermione wasn't complaining.

The young men bought new brooms and took the portkey in the folder to the property. "Nev, we can come down whenever you want." Harry stated as they got on their brooms. They went up about 15 meters and took a slow turn around the properties. The first thing Harry noticed was the terrain was very flat. It was also a very beautiful setting. He could see building his own retreat here when Mione and he got married. They saw a stream and small lake underneath a small copse of trees. He motioned Neville down to the lake.

When they got there, Nev seemed much happier to be back on terra firma. "I really don't like flying." He said.

"I know. I remember your first and I think your last flight." They both started laughing at the Rememberall Incident.

Nev just shook his head. "When you break your wrist the first time you do something, it leaves a bad taste in your mouth. However, it did give Gryffindor a great new Seeker." Harry grinned.

"So, what do you think of the place? Do you think we can do it here?" Harry asked, wanting Nev's opinion to match his but not wanting to influence him.

"Yeah. I think we can." Nev grinned at Harry's relieved look. "And I think an orphanage named after our mums is a brilliant idea. Let's go back to Gringotts and get the girls for lunch." He said as he saw it was half eleven.


	11. Chapter 11

**Ch. 11**

After picking up the girls from Gringotts, they went back to the Madhouse for lunch. When they got there, Mione headed off to Charm Ted's phone while Harry went to find his godson. He went into the kitchen and saw the most interesting thing he'd seen in a long time. Dobby was sitting on the island, holding Teddy in his arms and feeding him. As he was feeding Teddy, Dobby was singing in what must have been Elvish. It was a gentle, rhythmic song that would calm anything he could imagine. Harry looked at them and realised that Dobby was bonding with Teddy too. It was very comforting to know that Dobby would bond with the kids in the family. Somehow, with everything Dobby had done for them at Malfoy Manor, it seemed right that Dobby be the elf to do this. After all, Harry couldn't think of a more enthusiastic protector than Dobby.

When Dobby was done and Teddy needed to be burped, Harry said, "I'll do that Dobby." As he came in and lifted his godson to his shoulder, Dobby just smiled happily. "Hey little man. How are you this afternoon?"

Teddy just gave him a loud burp. "You're doing that well eh?" He laughed as Teddy laughed as well.

He sat the little boy in his bouncer as Dobby asked, "Did your day with Master Ted go well, Harry Potter Sir?"

"Yes. Nev and I are going to use some property we own to start an orphanage for all the war orphans out there." He said proudly. He really wanted this to work. If he could help it no wizarding child was going to end up like he did. He understood all too well life was tough when you didn't have a parent's love. However, with good people running the orphanage, no child would have to live like he did. "Do you know if the wizarding world has an equivalent of Department of Child Welfare?"

"I believe so. I cans check on that for you Harry Potter Sir."

"I'd appreciate that Dobby. They may have records of orphaned or abused children that we could help."

"Lunch bes in 10 minutes." Dobby replied as Harry left the room. He went up to the game room where everyone, including Dora and Sirius were.

"Mione, did you magic that phone for Ted?" He asked.

"Yes dear. I got both done." At Harry's confused look, she added "you know, the guy we met yesterday?"

"Oh yeah." He understood.

"Harry, wasn't Dobby feeding Teddy?" Dora asked, smiling at the fact Harry had him in his arms—and he hadn't been home for 15 minutes.

"Yes, but I burped him and he fell asleep on me." Harry grinned lopsidedly at her.

"Harry, I was thinking about the orphanage." Nev began. "And I was thinking, maybe we could divide them by age group and give them their own common room like at Hogwarts? What do you think?"

"That'd be great! With all the room we have we could make sure each kid only has to share a room with one other kid. I want them to have their own space." Harry responded. As they were talking, they were shooting pool.

"Does it seem to you Luna, that they can't talk without playing pool too—at least if we're up here?" Mione asked.

"Yes. But at least they're talking, unlike some boys."

"Harry, do you guys want a computer to organise everything about this project?" Mione asked. The boys looked at each other.

"We'd have to learn how to use it." Neville ventured.

"But we'll have to anyway with these two taking them to Hogwarts this year. They're going to insist on us using it for homework"

"Yeah. I suppose it's better we learn it now." Nev agreed and looked at Mione. "Sure, but I've never even been on a computer before so you'll have to show us how it works."

Dobby popped in then with "Lunch is ready" as he popped out with Teddy and the bouncer he'd been laying in.

"Guess he has Teddy." Sirius laughed as they all headed down.

HP

After lunch, the men went to Wizengamot and the girls went back to Gringotts. When they arrived at the ministry, the men didn't head down to Wizengamot chamber. Instead, they went to level 2.

"Why are we here Pads?" Harry asked.

"Well, the Alliance decided to have a get-together this afternoon with our heirs. We want to introduce you to both the Heads of House for the Alliance along with having you kids get to acquainted." He responded. "Then on Thursday, we are going to go over the Alliance's agreed upon goals with you and seek your consent."

"Okay Sirius. Stop sounding like a stuck-up git and use normal words." Neville reprimanded. "'agreed upon', 'acquainted'. These are not words you usually use. You're scaring me."

Sirius just laughed and put his arm around Nev as he whispered. "I only use big words in dealing with politics. Just get used to it." He then opened the double doors to what looked like a medium-sized ballroom and walked in. Harry and Nev looked at each other.

"We don't leave each other's side, yeah?" Harry muttered to Neville's nod as they walked in, following Sirius slowly.

"Okay boys. I'm just going to introduce you around. Don't be surprised if they want to thank you for getting rid of Voldemort. Be respectful." Sirius said under his breath as he walked up to who Harry recognised was Madam Bones. "Amelia, my dear, I'd like to introduce you to my Heir, Lord Harry Potter and Augusta's Heir Lord Neville Longbottom." Both men nodded to Amelia.

"It's a pleasure to meet you both. This is my Heiress Lady Susan Bones." They each nodded to one another.

"It is nice to see you again Lady Bones." Harry said. "I'm glad to see that the only rational person in Wizengamot at my hearing survived this war. And it's good to see you survived too Susan."

Amelia smiled, masking her surprise well. "I didn't think you'd remember me."

"I remember every moment of that day." He laughed.

"Yes. I suppose you would." She smiled.

"How are you today, Susan?" Nev ventured.

"I'm well. Better than living in the Room of Requirement, yeah?" She returned, alluding to the month or so a good majority of the DA spent living there.

"Much better." He smiled. "Not having to worry about Death Eaters, has a way of improving sleep."

And on it went. They were introduced to Lord Richard Macmillan and talked with Ernie, a fellow combatant at the Battle and schoolmate of theirs. They then moved on to Lord Richard Abbott and his Heiress Hannah, a fellow combatant with the DA.

Then they came to Kingsley. They greeted in the formal way, then Kings said. "Come here Harry." As he took the young man in a bear hug. "It's really good to see you both alive and well. I haven't seen you since Remus' funeral and while Sirius here keeps telling me you're okay, you can't trust this old dog as far as you can throw him." Kingsley laughed his deep baritone laugh.

"I know what you mean King. He is a mangy mutt, isn't he?" Harry looked at his godfather.

"Hey, I resemble that remark!" Sirius laughed.

"Neville, it's good to meet you, outside the battlefield." Kingsley said to the young man.

"Thank you, sir."

"None of that sir business. We are all friends here." King turned around and gestured to a boy about nine who was sitting at a table. "Come here Devon." He said encouragingly as the boy came over. "Harry, Neville, Sirius. I'd like you to meet my nephew and heir Devon."

"Hello Devon." Harry said, getting down to his level. "I'm Harry Potter. How are you today?"

"I'm fine sir." He said shyly as he hid behind his uncle.

"How old are you?" He asked, trying to make the young boy feel at ease.

"Nine sir."

"So two more years until Hogwarts. You're going to love it there. Nev and I met there and we're best friends. We roomed together for 6 years." He smiled conspiratorially. "One thing I learned there—Neville snores." Devon laughed and came out from behind King.

"Not as badly as our other roommate, Ron." Nev protested as he squatted down. "He sounds like a bloody train—every night!"

"Do you like flying Devon?" Harry asked. Devon nodded enthusiastically. "Well I do too. Maybe we can go flying together sometime."

"That'd be so cool." Devon replied as he finally came out of his shell. They spent the next two hours just talking to people. Honestly, it was a little draining for both Harry and Nev but they survived.

What made it worth it, however, was toward the end Devon asked to talk to the young men again, adoration clear in his eyes. "Mr. Potter, Mr. Longbottom. Thanks for not talking to me like a dumb kid. Most of these people do that. That's why I was sitting by myself earlier."

"Why would we talk to you like that when you clearly aren't?" Nev asked.

"Don't know but everyone does and I get bored at these things." He sighed.

"Well, next time hang with us." Harry invited with a smile.

"Dev, I need to talk to these two for a moment, yeah?" King said as Devon walked off. "Thanks for that both of you. I hate dragging Dev to these things but he has to be exposed to it early or he'll never learn. Thanks for making him feel welcome." He finished.

"Don't worry King. We'll look out for him." Nev replied. Soon after, the trio apparated home.

HP

"You know, Nev, we might talk to King about war orphans. He might know how to reach out to them now that he's minister." Harry proposed as they went to the game room where Dora and Teddy were laying on a divan asleep. Mione was working on their business plan while Luna was working on another computer.

Harry sat down next to Mione as his phone went off. "Hello." He said into the mobile.

"Hi Harry. It's Ted. I arranged for voice activated portkeys. One to each orphanage. I told them you'd be at St. Mary's at nine and Hufflepuff House around one to half one in the afternoon. Do you want to pick the portkeys up tomorrow?"

"Sure. Thanks so much Ted. Who do we ask for at each place?"

"Jane Guthry at St. Mary's and Venus McGonagall at Hufflepuff House."

"Okay see you tomorrow around 8.45. Thanks again Ted."

"No problem Harry." He replied as they hung up.

"Well, are we going tomorrow?" Nev asked anxiously. He was as excited as Harry to start this project.

"Yeah. Gringotts at 8.45. The morning is in Wales. The afternoon in Scotland." He grinned. "I love magic." He laughed.

"So do you want to learn how to use the computer now?" Luna asked. During all this time Mione's head was bent to the computer in her lap and she was typing away.

"Just a minute. Luna." Harry said as he sat next to Mione. "Mione, are you okay?" he asked as she jumped.

"You scared me Harry. When did you get home?" She kissed him on the cheek absentmindedly.

"A little while ago. I even talked to Ted on the phone. Again. Are you okay?"

"Yes. Fine. I'm a little distracted with this business plan. It's hard work coming up with all this information but I'm almost done." She smiled as Harry took her hand.

"Can you finish in 30 minutes?" He asked gently. He knew she was focused and when she was like this, she was more likely to explode if she didn't get done the task she'd assigned herself. He saw it at school all the time so he was asking questions, not demanding.

"Yes. I think so." She responded.

"Good. I'd like to enjoy your company this evening." He smiled as she went back to work and Luna taught them not only how to use the computer but the business software she had installed today.

By the time the young men had gotten the hang of the computer, Mione was finished with her work. It was around that time that Dora and Teddy woke up. After taking care of toiletries, Dora sat down in the game room to feed Teddy.

"So, Luna, how many computers have you charmed today?" she asked, amused by the determination the girl showed. When told about Luna's reputation as dreamy at school, she was confused. The girl she had grown to know was smart, determined, level-headed and incredibly kind.

"Four, but we also have the two left at WWW too." She put the one she'd been working on down. "I think our next step is to work on the telly."

"How many electronics devices are you going to charm?" Dora asked.

"Well, we decided today that the display we would have at WWW would have a mobile, computer, telly, game boy, VCR, stereo, portable CD player, and Walkman." She reeled off. "We also decided that we'd let people bring in their own devices to get them protected. We will set everything up in the store and man it this summer, then we will just keep the display stocked during the school year and the twins will run it. If someone wants their own devices magicked, they'll send it to Hogwarts."

"Why not set up your own store with a team that can do the Rune work?" Dora asked.

"That may end up happening but we don't know how popular this will be so we don't want to start out that way."

"Do you want to go to the Patents Office tomorrow and register the Rune work?"

Luna smiled. She was so glad the whole family seemed to be behind this "Okay. Could I meet you there at say eleven? We need to go over our business plan with your dad in the morning."

Dora laughed. "Sure. I'm sure my dad is enjoying helping you out. I bet he's telling mum all about your company and how revolutionary it is. And I'm sure mum is just sitting there nodding her head. With as many years as my dad has managed other peoples' money, he really enjoys helping people start a new venture—especially if he thinks it's going to work."

The rest of the evening was spent talking about the teens' projects. Sirius was so proud of the boys working together to make sure no one was left behind from this war. The amount of effort they were putting into this project was mind- blowing to him. At 17, he was still trying to get laid as much as possible, not trying to better the world. Thinking about it, the same was true of the girls. While it might have started out as a project for school, the fact that they were willing to share their results was amazing. Their innovations could see the entire wizarding world change.

If their proposal to the Board works for Hogwarts, these four kids will be forcing change on the wizarding world—that it needs badly. Having a more responsive educational institution, taking care of wizarding and muggle orphans from the war and more advanced technology could only lead to a brighter wizarding Britain, in Sirius' opinion. _Merlin, I'm sounding like a politician already, _he thought.

**Wednesday 17 June 1998**

The next morning at breakfast Harry asked Dora, "So when are you going back to the ministry?"

"I'm not sure. As much as I love being an Auror, I am Teddy's only parent now. I'm thinking I may have to take a safer job at the ministry or somewhere else." Dora sighed.

"Could you spend the time helping Mione and Luna do the Rune etching and so forth on the electronics, while you decide?" Nev asked.

"If they want." She replied after swallowing pumpkin juice.

"Sure. That'd be wonderful. Wouldn't it Mione? Then we could concentrate on the business for a while." Luna jumped at the chance. While figuring all this out was extremely fun for Luna, the drudgery of putting Runes on everything was boring.

Hermione perked up at that. "Would you Dora?" she pleaded, giving the puppy-eyes that always worked on Harry. "Please?"

"Of course, but you'll have to teach me." She laughed at Hermione's pleading.

"When we get back from the Patent Office, I'll do that." Luna replied as everyone finished breakfast.

"Okay." Sirius sighed as he got up. "I'm off to fight over who gets put in as replacement members." Everyone laughed as he apparated away.

"And we're off to Gringotts." Harry added as all four apparated to their appointments.

Each pair came into Ted's office that morning for different reasons. The boys picked up the portkeys, kissed the girls goodbye and left for Wales. The girls sat down with Ted to go over their business plan. They had printed him a copy at home.

"I see here, you've named your company Magically Innovative Technology or M.I.T. You know that's a uni in the States, right?" He asked.

"That was our plan." Hermione smiled. "Many muggleborns will have heard of MIT and know that they're known for their innovations, so will know what to expect from us."

HP

The boys portkeyed into the entrance hall of a building that looked a lot like a nursing home Harry used to visit with the Dursleys, at first glance.

"Hello, you must be Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom?" a woman said from behind them. They turned around to see a woman about Madam Pomphrey's age.

"Yes we are." Neville held out his hand.

"Well it's good to meet you. Why don't we take a tour of the place first? By the way, I'm Jane Guthry." She said as she showed them the nursery for the infants, the toddlers wing, the school-age kids wing, the cafeteria, the schoolhouse, and the hospital wing.

In the schoolhouse, which only had 3 rooms, they saw mainly classes you'd find in a muggle primary. However, they did see several students practicing meditation. "One thing we've learned is the younger you have the students learn to meditate, the fewer bouts of accidental magic you encounter."

"That would've helped me then." Harry chuckled.

"Lots of accidental magic as a child, yeah?" Nev asked.

"Loads. I once apparated onto the roof of the school to get away from bullies." He smiled.

"As you saw in their living quarters, each child shares a room with 4 others and are grouped by age and sex." She continued. "After school, students spend the next three hours on homework, we eat at six o'clock and lights out is at ten."

"Do you have humans in charge of each of these wings? Or are they monitored by house elves?" Nev asked.

"Yes we have one or two in each wing but we rely on the house elves for a lot of the monitoring. We just can't afford the help."

They eventually went outside where there was a small Quidditch pitch, a playground each for older and younger kids. Both boys noticed how old and broken down this place was. It was decorated similarly to a muggle hospital. In other words, not very warm. They could see the adults working there seemed worn and tired. Of course, it didn't seem to Harry that there were enough adults on the premises.

They ended up in Ms. Guthry's office, where they talked about what she would like to see changed and what she liked about this orphanage. It really boiled down to more money to find more qualified help.

Both Neville and Harry were taking notes of everything they saw. "Ms. Guthry, is it possible to see your budget so we know how much we should plan for things?" Harry asked.

"Of course. Let me make you a copy. And if you have more questions, feel free to contact me anytime." She replied handing it over as they left. They portkeyed back to Gringotts and apparated home.

HP

When they got home, the boys looked at each other and said simultaneously. "I want to see Teddy." They went to the kitchen, drawing room, game room and sitting room but found Teddy and Dora out on the grass playing 'catch the nose' as Dora changed her nose and Teddy tried to grab it.

"Hey Dora, has he caught your nose yet?" Harry asked as they sat down in the grass with her.

"No but he's getting there. Usually, he ends up with my cheek or hair." She laughed as her boy waved to his godfather as Harry picked him up.

Harry just sat there staring at his little man when he whispered. "You'll never have to go to a place like that little man." Then he looked at Dora. "Who's on the list to care for Teddy if you die?"

"That bad huh?" She asked

"Worse." Nev said.

"Well, you're next, then my parents, then Sirius."

"Could you add a few more? Maybe Neville, Luna and Hermione?" Harry asked.

"Maybe pick someone outside our circle like Ginny?" Nev suggested.

"Why so many?" Dora asked.

"Because if you, Sirius, your parents and I die, I'd like to know Teddy won't go to one of those places."

"You're really worried?"

"Yes Dora. That place was so impersonal it was amazing the kids were stimulated at all."

"Okay. I'll talk to Dad's lawyer who drew up our will and add the names."

The girls and Sirius came home a few minutes later and they went in to lunch. Harry had given Teddy up to Nev, who didn't look like he was going to give him to Dora to feed until Dora promised to give him back.

"Merlin that place must have been awful." She shook her head. Nev had never been very possessive of Teddy except today.

"So what are you doing this afternoon, Mione?" Sirius asked his niece as they walked outside.

"I'm going to work on the improvements to the business plan we worked on with Ted while Luna and Dora go to the Patent Office. Then we'll teach Dora how to magic the equipment."

"What'd Ted think of your business plan?" Nev asked.

"He liked it and says we should be able to give it to the twins tomorrow or Friday."

"Apparently, he was really impressed with our thoroughness and said it just needs a few tweaks." Luna smiled.

"I can see that. You're two of the smartest people at Hogwarts now." Harry grinned at Neville and stage whispered. "How'd we get so lucky?"

Everyone laughed as Hermione huffed. "Oh you."

HP

At 1.15, after Dora and Luna left, the boys portkeyed to Hufflepuff House. Their entrance hall looked more like a large palace entrance hall. It had marble flooring and huge oak doors that must open to the outside. There was a cloak room off to the side and a bench with a place to put your shoes.

"You must be Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom." A woman said from behind them. They turned around to see a woman that very much resembled a younger Professor McGonagall but with red hair and a smile. "I'm Venus McGonagall and I've heard so much about you two from my aunt, I feel like I know you already."

"You're Minerva's niece?" Harry finally got out. "She has family?"

"Yes." Venus laughed. "I've been her niece all my life."

"Bloody hell. She's human?" Nev babbled.

"Yes. Contrary to popular belief, she is not a lion masquerading as a human." Venus couldn't help laughing at the fact that these young men couldn't think past the Professor image her Aunt liked so much. "And believe me, you are her absolute favorite students. She regales us with stories of your 'adventures' Mr. Potter every summer and Christmas." She paused, looked at the young men and became more serious. "Why don't we start the tour?" the boys nodded. "Originally, this was a manor house. We've remodeled and expanded it to have a dining room and kitchen on the east side of the basement and ground floor. The meals are served like Hogwarts only the children eat at tables by age." They walked into a large room with loads of tables, all different sizes. "We generally have 4-6 adults eating with every age group. The toddlers and preschoolers eat at 11.30, the school age eat at 12. We have a schoolhouse out back I'll show you soon." She went to the east side of the mansion where there was a game room, library and some offices for staff. "The first floor is for newborns through toddlers. We try to stay at 2 youngsters for each bedroom. Here is a toddler's room." They went in to see it decorated with a Quidditch theme. It was a decent size room for two toddlers. "This is a boy's room as you can tell by the décor." She laughed as they headed up a flight of stairs. "This is the preschool age." They looked at a nice princess room. They went up again. "This is a school age room." Harry noticed the inclusion of desks and bunkbeds now. "And up on this fourth floor we have the fewest number of rooms because most of these are for children that go to Hogwarts and are only here part of the year." They moved to the fifth floor. "Since a few of our staff decide to live here, this is their floor. Each child's room has a monitoring charm on it so it will awake the appropriate person. For instance, if a school age child is out of bed, it chimes in Ms. O'Clare's room and she gets up to deal with it." She said as they came back down. On the first floor, she pointed to a room. "That room is staffed by a different member each night to take care of the infant's needs."

They headed to the back of the house and walked out to a schoolhouse. "I notice there are a lot of adults on the grounds here. What's the ratio of child to adult?" Harry asked

"Thirty to one." She said as they walked through what looked like an actual primary school, not the schoolhouse at St. Mary's.

There was lots of room for kids to play and climb trees and yet they also had play equipment for different ages. "Let's go back to my office and talk specifics, shall we?" She asked, her green eyes twinkling.

When they got back, Harry asked "Could you give us a moment? We'll be in shortly"

"Of course. Use this office." She led them to an empty office and left.

"Do you like this model Nev?"

"Loads better than the one this morning." He nodded.

"I'm thinking we should model ours after this and hire Venus away." Harry suggested. Nev's eyes got brighter and he nodded.

"I like that idea. I wonder if she'll want to start over at a new place though?"

"Let's ask."

"Okay." They walked out and knocked on her office.

"Come in." She called.

They sat down in front of the desk. "So what do you think of Hufflepuff House?"

"This is very similar to what we were thinking of building. Only we're going to put a dairy farm and a few greenhouses on our land for the older kids to help with." Harry replied as he took a deep breath. "We were wondering if you would like to help us build it, staff it and manage it with us."

"We like what you've done here and want to emulate parts of it." Nev continued. "We were thinking of using Hogwarts as a model where we'd have separate facilities per age group with their own common room."

"So you would have a tower for each age group with their own common rooms. What would be in the newborn common room?" she inquired, testing them. She wondered how realistic they'd be or if this was a pie in the sky adventure.

"Well, it'd have a few changing stations, bouncers, playpens, a few toyboxes. There would be at least two regular bedrooms for staff at night to share the sleeping duties."

"Do either of you have experience with newborns?" she asked.

"I live with my girlfriend, Godfather, my uncle's widow and their son, my godson, who was born two weeks before the battle of Hogwarts; where my uncle died. So I do at least one feeding a night sometimes two. I know all about babies. That's why two staff should be here every night—so no one dies from lack of sleep." Harry laughed. "Oh and Neville here spends a lot of nights at my place, so he knows too."

"How active will you be in the day-to-day running of the place?" she questioned.

"After the initial set up, we'd need someone experienced to take over because we'll be at school." Neville answered. "That's why we want you. You seem to know your stuff and we want your expertise in what works and what doesn't."

"How much say would I get in the initial hiring for my deputy and other staff?"

"Initially we'll do it together and major changes in future will be made by all three. I see our role being less hands on with time." Harry responded.

"Okay. Can you give me until Friday morning? I'm inclined to agree—I've always wanted to start from scratch and build a place the way I envision it." She sighed. "Come here Friday morning and we can talk more then." She said as she walked them out. They said goodbye and portkeyed away.

HP

When they got home, Harry realised it was already six o'clock. They'd spent nearly five hours there. "I didn't realise we'd spent so much time there." He said to Nev as they made their way to the game room.

"Yeah, but it was an amazing place. That dining hall was brilliant. It was bright and fun, though you're going to want to decorate with snitches, yeah?" Nev laughed. They arrived at the seating area to see Dora, Mione, and Luna sitting there applying Runes to computers, phones and one small tv.

"It looks like an electronics store in here." Harry laughed as he picked his godson up from the bouncer, kissed him and put him back.

"Well, we went out and bought more." Mione smiled up at her love. "I think we have all the Runes figured out for most everything. The only issue we're still working on is how to get the programming for the telly and the internet for the computers." She sighed as she put down the phone she was working on. She got up and gave him a kiss as he sat down and pulled her onto his lap. "So how was Hufflepuff House?"

"Well, we met McGonagall's niece." He laughed at the gobsmacked looks on their faces. "Yep. They even look alike except for the red hair. Venus is actually very organised and knows her stuff."

"We even offered her a job as Head of the orphanage." Nev smiled. "Apparently, she's heard about all your 'adventures' as McGonagall calls them from her aunt at family get-togethers."

"Their school actually looks like a primary school, not an old-fashioned schoolhouse." Harry observed.

"Sounds like you might have some actual help with this project." Hermione noted. Teddy started waiving his arms and legs and wiggling in the bouncer. Hermione got off Harry and rolled her eyes at Luna as Harry bounced up and scooped Teddy into his arms. "He really can't leave Teddy be, can he?" She smiled indulgently at the pair.

"Nope." Luna finally peeked out of the back of the telly. "I think this one is done. I also think we nailed down the Runes to get the programming. We'll have to take them to WWW tomorrow and see."

"Good!" Hermione exclaimed. "If it works then we can adapt those charms and Runes for the Internet. That'd be great."

They spent the rest of the evening just enjoying each other's company. After having dinner with the Grangers, they sat down and watched Terminator. The purebloods were really nervous that muggles might make machines that think for themselves. Harry, Hermione, Dan and Emma had to ease their fears. Needless to say, it took a while to do.

**Thursday 18 June 1998**

The next thing Harry knew, he was hearing Teddy cry. In his groggy state, he felt Mione laying on him. He kissed her gently as he extracted himself from underneath her, luckily without waking her.

He put on boxers and went to get his godson. "Hello kiddo. How're you today? I'm great. Your Aunt Mione is an amazing person, you know that?" He asked the boy as he changed him in Sirius' room.

When they walked into Harry's room, they sat in the rocker "Thanks Dobby." Harry said to the air as the bottle appeared on the arm of the rocker. "I don't know what we'd do without that little guy. He's absolutely amazing and he takes such good care of us all. You know, your Auntie wanted to free all the house elves at Hogwarts for a long time. She knitted hats and laid them out for the elves to find. She's just an amazing woman, always thinking about how to make the world better. You and I are so lucky we get to know her. And she loves you almost as much as I do little man." He said as he burped the baby. "Boy I'm going to miss our talks when I go back to Hogwarts, little one." He sighed. Harry looked at his watch. "We should have plenty of time to make breakfast for everyone if we hurry." He told the boy as they went downstairs.

Hermione opened her eyes as he left the room with Teddy. She had woken up as Harry had started feeding. As she got ready for the day, she marveled at the man Harry was becoming. It amazed her how much more open he was when talking to Teddy. She wondered if it was because he couldn't talk back, so he was safe.

Harry didn't talk about his feelings, Hermione knew and respected this. It was hard for him to admit that he cared about someone because he could then be hurt. She knew that with her, he felt he could be more open but he still had a tendency to close off at times—unless they were making love, then his feelings were written in his eyes and on his face. The one person he was completely honest with was Teddy.

In all the years she'd known him, he had always been this reserved, brooding, closed off person. However, since the war ended, he'd been much more open and willing to express his wants and needs. He was more open to bringing new people like Neville and Luna into his life. She really liked this version of Harry.

As she walked out of their bedroom, she walked right into Luna. "Sorry." She muttered as they and Nev went down the stairs.

As they ate, they talked about their plans for the day.

"We're going back to Gringotts to do the final draft for the business plan so we can give it to the twins tomorrow and we can discuss it Sunday." Mione offered.

"We're going to talk to King about who to talk to about war orphans this morning." Harry continued.

"This afternoon, you two need to be at the ministry. We are going to go over the Alliances goals today." Sirius said to the boys. "Wear your formal robes please. I think we are going to have an Alliance dinner every third Saturday of the month to update you on what is going on in sessions. The first one might be this Saturday but I'm unsure."

"Makes sense." Nev replied.

"We are going out shopping with a friend this morning." Dora announced to her boy. "We'll be back for lunch."

HP

After they apparated to the ministry, Nev and Harry went to Kingsley's office. "We were wondering if we could have a few minutes of the Minister's time this morning?" Nev asked his receptionist.

"What is it you need of him?" The older woman asked.

"We would like to talk to him about starting an orphanage for all the war orphans." He smiled.

She got up and disappeared into Kingsley's office, coming back a few minutes later. "You may go in." she smiled, as she pointed through the open door they walked through.

"Hello boys, sit down." King smiled jovially at them. "What can I do for you?"

As they sat, Harry started. "Well King, we've been working with Dora's dad learning about our family investments this summer. Our next project is to find a way to rehabilitate or repurpose a property we own. We found that our dads bought adjoining properties of 100 acres each." He sighed. "So we decided to start an orphanage for war orphans. We think we already have the Head of the organization—Professor McGonagall's niece Venus- but we don't know if you guys keep lists of orphans or who to talk to."

"So, you met Venus." King laughed. "I remember the first time I met her I was at Hogwarts and she was visiting—scary how much those two look alike!"

"But with red hair." Nev contributed.

"Yes. She a good lady but doesn't have to put on the strict face Minerva does." King sighed. "I know that we have many orphans now. I know our Child Welfare Service has a few homes they run but that they are so overcrowded because regular families won't take non-family members into their homes. I also know they'd like to close them down if possible, so anything you could do to help that would be good." He paused, reviewing his schedule in his head. "Let me look into a few things and I'll bring those names to you this afternoon." He got up and the young men followed.

"Thank you, Kingsley." Nev shook his hand.

"You're welcome" He smiled as they left.

"That was easy." Nev commented as they left.

"Almost too easy." Harry agreed. "Want to take a walk down the Alley?"

"Sure. We've got plenty of time." Nev approved. "Maybe stop at Fortescue's?"

"Yeah. But I really think we ought to talk to the twins about what the girls are planning. I really want this to go well for them." Harry enthused.

"Why? What is so important about this venture?"

"Well, I want Mione to see that her hard work can bring in something besides good grades. I also want her to have something that is truly hers." He explained as they got to the apparition point and apparated to the Alley. They apparated to right next to the entrance to the Leaky, so they weren't too far from WWW. "Nev, you and I've got so much bloody money, I'm a little worried that Mione will be uncomfortable marrying me if she has nothing of her own."

Nev just looked at him for a minute. "You know, I never thought of that. We're with some very independent women; they're going to want their own life even after we get married and this is a good way to give it to them." He laughed as they walked into WWW. "It seems obvious now that you say it."

They found George (Harry thought) behind the counter. "So George, I see that you guys are open now. What's up?" Harry asked.

"We opened fully this week so it's still a little slow right now."

"I see you have a fairly empty area near the front." Nev commented.

"Yeah. We want to fill that area with something. We just haven't decided what yet."

"Well, the girls have been working really hard on this business plan this week and are going to give it to you tomorrow. I really hope you guys can make it work. It's really important to them." Harry replied.

"We'll see." George returned with a mischievous grin as they said goodbye and parted.


	12. Chapter 12

**Ch. 12**

**Thursday 18 June 1998**

That afternoon, after a relaxing lunch with his godson, Harry, Nev and Sirius headed back to the same room they had been in on Tuesday. This time, however, there were no tables, there was just a circle of chairs in the middle of the room.

"Boys, since we are the senior members of the Alliance, we will be meeting people at the door. Your Gran should be here any minute, Nev, then we can get started." Sirius began. "After everyone is seated, we will go over our aims as an Alliance and lay out when we'll need you in Wizengamot sessions. We will also go over our monthly meetings and what they'll be about. The adults in the Alliance have been a little nervous letting you Heirs in because they see you as too young. Thankfully, we've come to some decisions regarding that."

Gran came in and instead of being formal, Harry took her in a hug. He could feel she was a little stiff for a moment and then relaxed. "Thank you, Harry." She smiled as she stood back and arranged all four of them in a line at the door.

Everyone soon arrived and sat in their seats. Each heir was sitting next to their Lord or Lady except Devon who was trying to sit between Harry and Nev. Harry laughed at that, picked up the boy and sat him on his lap.

It started with Sirius going over goals. He handed out a computer printed sheet with a list of goals on it. "Everyone." Sirius said as people quieted down. "I hear a lot of you asking what this parchment is. Well, my godson's and Neville Longbottom's girlfriends have come up with a way to shield electronics so they can be used with magic. This is a printout of what our goals are. I used a computer up in my office here in the ministry and typed this document up and printed it out. If anyone wants to see the computer, come by my office and I'll show you how it works." He laughed at the gobsmacked look on most the adult's faces. "The first goal is to get more people of different backgrounds on Wizengamot. I believe we're all on board with that." He looked around and got several nods. "The next one is a more merit-based approach to hiring in all areas of magical Britain. Third, we are going to repeal ALL of the restrictions on Creature Laws. Fourth, we are going to make a place for other magic users to have a say on Wizengamot. And lastly, we want encourage cooperation between the Department of Education and Hogwarts staff."

"Are we really sure we want to take on the Creatures Laws that have been on the books for centuries when people like Greyback are still running loose?" Ian Macmillan asked.

There was an uproar from both sides as they talked over one another to make their point. Sirius stood up and stared at every person until they shut down. When he had everyone's attention, he stated "Greyback is an outlaw by any standard, civilized or feral and should be put down in the harshest terms possible but to punish those inflicted with lycanthropy because they might become like Greyback is an insult to any were that wants a normal life—and most want a normal life."

"We're not going to solve this debate today." Augusta said loudly. "We need to make our pitch to Wizengamot tomorrow for replacement members." As she said this Sirius was handing around papers with the Alliance's agreed upon replacements. "Currently, there are fourteen votes on Wizengamot, the rest have been disqualified. We are 7 of those. We need at least one more to make this work Has anyone had any luck talking to the Greengrasses or Shaqifs?"

"Yes and I'm positive we have the Greengrasses and I'm almost sure the Fawley's are with us." Lord Abbott volunteered

"Do they know that we are trying to separate Malfoys vote into the original three families so the Malfoys, or whoever we nominate to replace them, have 2 votes, the Prewitts have 2 and the Weasleys have two?"

"Yes. That is why Lord Greengrass is voting with us. He doesn't want one family to have so many votes again." was the reply.

"The second goal I see us getting a handle on this summer is the merit-based pay." Lady Bones brought up. "We'll get lots of help there from the Department Heads, we've all wanted that for decades but this body wouldn't deal with it."

"I would suggest we leave the other goals until we've accomplished these. I'm sure we will add and subtract them with time." Sirius prodded. "I would like to invite everyone to my home, The Madhouse, for an early dinner and get together on Saturday. Bring your wives, heirs and their' girl/boyfriends are welcome as well. We can talk more about this then."

"I'll second that." Lord Abbott answered as everybody gathered up their things and left. The older crowd left to attend Wizengamot session already in progress.

Harry and Nev left, along with all of the younger generation, for home. When they got there, they could hear the stereo coming from the game room upstairs.

"Wow that's loud!" Nev looked surprised as he headed up.

"Yeah. I hope Teddy's already awake because that will certainly do the trick." Harry laughed. They arrived to see Mione bent over a computer typing away. There were CD players, VCR's and tellies stacked in a small pile as everything was shrunk, however Dora and Luna had CD players in their hands and were working diligently while Teddy slept in his bouncer.

"Wake Teddy and you die." Dora whispered angrily. "He just finally went down."

"How is he asleep through the music?" Harry asked.

"He can sleep through music." Dora whispered with a shrug. "Anything else and he wakes up."

The men decided a game of pool was a bad idea, it might wake the infant, but a game of darts was fine; so they headed to the board. "So, do you think we'll get all our replacements on Wizengamot?" Harry inquired

"I think we'll get a lot of them, perhaps not all, but enough."

"Who do you think we won't get?"

"The Creeveys. They're muggleborn. I don't think they're ready for a muggleborn."

"Do you think we'll get Hermione?"

"I think so. Our side will be the majority and I know Daphne and Hermione get along and I think that'll influence her father. One thing you have to remember Harry is that besides Black, Potter, Longbottom and Bones, this is a very tentative Alliance right now. It hasn't been tested and, if there's one thing Gran's always told me, it's that Alliances shift in the wind—friendships don't. That's why Sirius and her are harping on us getting to know the other heirs, so we can gain their friendships and thus their Alliance."

"And you should listen to your Gran and me about these things." Sirius said as he came into the room.

"Why are you home?" Harry worried as he walked up to his Godfather and hugged him.

"Oh, I need some stuff from the study. Thought I'd say hi, seeing as I'm here." He looked down at Teddy as he was just opening his eyes. "Your son's about to wake Dora." He commented as he looked at his godson. "Nev's right kiddo—about the Alliance and friendship."

"I know. It's just most of these people think of me as the-boy-who-lived or the-man-who-vanquished, where the bloody hell did that name come from by the way? I want to be known as Harry Potter period."

"That's why the other Alliance members want us to have these dinners, so you guys can get to know each other that way." Sirius confirmed. "Anyway, I better go. I'll see you tonight." And he left.

"You want to go down to the study and write out our ideas for the orphanage Nev?" Harry sighed, putting down his darts.

"Sure." Nev did the same as they walked downstairs to the study. In the past few weeks, Sirius used an enlargement charm to be able to fit another desk inside. Now, instead of the two desks side by side, they had that plus another in place to make it a sideways T; two next to each other and one facing both of them. This new desk was Neville's, the one right next to it was Harry's and the one to the left side of the room as you come in was Sirius'. Both Nev and Harry had computers on their desks.

"So, what do we want this orphanage to be?" Harry asked

"Well, I want it decorated more like here than Longbottom Estates. Yes, the offices should be somewhat formal but this should be a home foremost." Nev threw out.

"Do we want to use the castle theme? I mean, it's a good way to get them used to a place like Hogwarts before they go and, I really like the castle theme."

"Yeah but will it cost more to build it that way?"

"I think the cost will be worth it. I want the kids to feel like this is their home, not someplace to sleep." Harry said bitterly. Nev looked at the hard expression on his Godbrother's face and figured now was not the time to ask. However, Nev thought Harry clearly needed to talk about something. "I was thinking of having a large main structure that would incorporate the dining hall, offices, classrooms and staff bedrooms. Then the four turrets would be nursery and toddlers, preschool age, school age kids, and Hogwarts age."

"And we want to set aside space for staff to sleep in the towers with full time attendees. Should we offer room and board to our staff?"

"I think we should to our teaching staff. Maybe if someone teaches English they get a certain amount but if they want to live there they get some extra because they will have responsibility for one of the towers. Sort of like McGonagall. She lives on site and is Head of Gryffindor so she's responsible for Gryffindors' behaviour. Only they have a flat at the top of each tower."

"Yeah, we could make those really, really nice flats and if more than four teachers want to live on site, they can have a smaller flat attached to their classrooms." They sat there writing down ideas that they wanted to incorporate into their orphanage until Sirius came home at 6.30.

"Hey boys." Sirius said as he came into the study. "Have you been down here since I've been gone?"

Harry looked up distractedly from his computer. "Yeah. We've been going through our plans for the orphanage. We have—" he paused as he checked his computer "five pages of notes so far. Why?" He stretched.

"Okay. You've done enough for the day." Sirius was astounded that they had been working so hard. They were taking this assignment so much more seriously than he did at 15. But it might have something to do with the fact that it seems as though this generation is much more serious than his was. Maybe it has to do with the boys wanting to finish this war for good this time. He just shook his dark hair and said. "Let's go upstairs and see everyone. You boys are making me look bad by working so hard." Nev and Harry just laughed as they printed their notes. What Sirius didn't notice was both men bringing the notes up with them in case they got any more ideas.

When they got to the game room, Teddy was in the bouncer. "How's my little man doing?" Harry asked as he picked his godson up. Teddy promptly cuddled into his goddad and grabbed his shirt. He then began sucking his left hand. "Oh you are such a good little kid." Harry sighed as he sat on the divan. He then noticed that there were a lot more magicked devices in the completed pile. "So you three have been busy, I see." He looked at Hermione and Luna who still had appliances in their hands.

"Yes, but we are done now." Hermione shrunk what they'd been working on and put them away and sat with her boyfriend and the baby.

"So, was that all you did this afternoon?" Nev asked.

"No." Luna replied. "We took a bunch of stuff to WWW to make sure it still works. We just got back about an hour ago and could hear you talking from the entrance hall so we didn't bother you. What have you decided on the orphanage?"

"No. No more talking about work." Sirius interrupted commandingly. "We need to get our heads away from work and on what's really important—family."

"So Dora, will your parents be here Sunday?" Hermione asked.

"I think so. Talked to mum yesterday and she wants a phone too. Says she's getting too old to bend down for floo calls."

Hermione turned around in her seat and grabbed one. She threw it to Dora. "Here. She can have it for free this time." Hermione grinned.

"From what Augusta told me, Minnie wants one each for her teachers. She saw Augusta call Neville from Hogwarts and has been sitting on the fence about it but talked to her today about getting them." Sirius added.

They spent the rest of the evening just chatting. When the Grangers arrived for dinner, Dan reminded Sirius of the football game Saturday afternoon. Luckily, it was early enough that he'd get back for the dinner on time

**Friday 19 1998**

Friday morning Harry woke up with Teddy like normal. However, when he got downstairs, Nev was already sitting there with coffee in his hands.

"Nervous about what Venus will decide?" Harry laughed, after all he hadn't spent much time asleep last night either.

"Yeah."

HP

The two young men were so nervous for their appointment that they nearly forgot their computers and phones. They apparated to the front entrance where they met Venus last time. She was coming from the back offices as they looked around.

"Hello Harry, Neville." She smiled as she shook their hands and led them to her office. After locking and warding the door, they all sat down.

She sighed. "So, I've been doing some thinking and talking to my aunt." She laughed at the horrified looks on the men's faces. "Actually, she was quite complimentary of both of you, so don't worry." She smiled as they relaxed. "I've come to the decision that after working here for nearly 25 years, it is time for a change."

Both men relaxed infinitesimally at that. "What is your current salary?" Harry asked, remembering Hermione telling him to find out.

"Six thousand galleons a year."

"Well, we agreed yesterday that if you'd take the job it would be at twenty thousand. Is that good enough?" Neville asked.

She was stunned. As far as she knew, she was paid on the higher end for running an orphanage. "H-H-H-How are you going to pay that?"

"Well, we're going to fund all of this for two years through an account we're both putting a million galleons each into. We're going to need you there when we open the account so we can all access it. Hopefully by then, we'll have government support and the nursery and dairy farm will be helping as well." Because she looked like she was going to pass out, Harry stopped. "Are you okay Venus?"

"You do know that I am one of the most well-paid administrators of an orphanage in Britain, yeah?"

"Yeah, but that's not nearly what you're worth." Harry responded.

"All right then. The operating budget for this place is 35000 Galleons a year, so I think we'll be okay on budget." They laughed.

They continued the conversation by going over the notes the two had made in their brainstorming session.

"I like the idea of making it more of a boarding school with staff that truly loves kids. I also really like the ideas about teachers having nicer flats if they're willing to take on extra work. All of this is great but we need to figure out a design to take to the architect."

So they sat there deciding on a building that was a more rectangular version of the Tower of London's White Tower. The face of the keep would be the Kentish ragstone that makes up the Tower. It would also have more widows than the White Tower.

"If we're going to go with medieval-style architecture, we should do it throughout the property. Outhouses should look medieval on the outside but be completely modern on the inside." She suggested.

"Makes sense." Neville said. "I don't know if this will work but I'll run it past you both. What if we were to run electrical wiring through the whole place? Then when Mione and Luna come up with a way to protect whole buildings from electricity fritzing out around magic, we would already be wired for it and could hook it up. What do you think?"

"I think you're thinking waaaaaaay bigger that either one of our girls were initially thinking." Harry just burst out laughing.

When both he and Neville calmed down, Venus asked. "What does electricity have to do with our construction? I didn't think muggle stuff worked in our world."

"Well our brilliant girlfriends figured a way for electronics like phones and computers to work around magic. It's a series of Runes and Charms applied to each device. Do you know WWW in Diagon Alley?" She nodded. "We think you'll be able to get mobile phones, computers and tellies that will work with magic there next week if they come to an agreement with the owners."

"I heard Aunt Minnie talking about the mobiles last week."

"Do you want one?" Nev asked, reaching behind him to his charmed computer bag, which could now fit anything he wanted.

"Of course." She grinned. "Especially if I get it before Auntie." Nev handed her one and they taught her how to work it. After she had called both of them, she said, "So, you could make electric lights work with magic then?"

"Well, we'll have to see what the girls can do." Harry replied as they got up to leave. "We'll see you Tuesday at Gringotts in Ted Tonks office at nine, then." He commented as they apparated home for lunch.

Everyone was headed to the kitchen to eat when they apparated in.

"Good to see you pup." Sirius greeted. "You know you have to be in Wizengamot at half one yeah?"

"Yeah. We got caught up talking to the new Head of LAR." Harry grinned as the girls squealed and hugged them.

"That's great." Dora enthused as she handed Teddy to Harry.

HP

The three men headed to Wizengamot at 1.15 to make sure they were there on time. They walked to the chambers without speaking much. When they got there the hall was filled with people standing around talking. They found Gran and a bunch of the Alliance members in one corner. Everyone looked deadly serious.

"Well, now that I'm here, it's time to get serious" Sirius said jovially. Several members looked at him like he was crazy, others laughed at the play on his name.

"For Merlin's sake, stop acting the fool." Augusta hissed.

"He can't. He's never learned how." Amelia grinned ruefully, having experienced his brand of humour at Hogwarts.

"Ah, you know me so well." Sirius laid his arm on Amelia's shoulder.

"Which means I'm immune to you Black." She gave him a stare and he removed his arm.

"Lady Bones, you have to teach me that stare. I can't find anything that will get my godfather to act like a human. Yet that worked." Harry grinned.

"Don't worry. I'll teach you Saturday." She smiled serenely as Sirius pouted.

The gavel was struck and everyone took their seats and began with all the bureaucratic red tape. Eventually, they started proposing replacements. "Who is the first nomination to take Avery's seat?" The Chief Witch Marchbanks asked.

"I nominate Professor Minerva McGonagall. She is a half-blood who has been a staple of our community as the Transfiguration teacher at Hogwarts. She has proven herself an advocate for children for many decades now." Sirius espoused.

"I second that motion" Lord Greengrass said.

"Are there any other nominations?" Marchbanks asked. "None, then raise your wand lit for yes, unlit for no." Harry looked around, relieved that they got McGonagall on.

"I would like to restore the Blishwick's, Doge's, and Ogden's seats." Gran stood up. "I would also like to split the Malfoy vote into its original two for Malfoy, two for Prewitt and two for Weasley. This way no one has more than two votes"

There was lots of back and forth bickering. Harry noticed that the ones against it were the purebloods that may not have been death eaters but were still on that side of the aisle. Eventually, it came to a vote. By a slight majority, these families were restored and voted in.

Nominations for Burke please." Marchbanks asked.

"Boot." Lord Greengrass offered.

"Seconded." Said King.

"Davies" said Bulstrode.

"Seconded" said Flint.

"Same procedure as before. Lit means yes. Unlit means no. We'll call Boot first" Not nearly enough went up. "Davies." She called. He passed. "Replacing Carrow."

"Wood." Lord Abbott nominated.

"Seconded" Lord Macmillan claimed.

And so it went. Everyone the Longbottom-Potter-Black Alliance wanted got on except for Creevey, Finch-Fletchy and Boot. Those seats were taken by other either neutral or non-Voldemort supporters. To Harry this was a good day. Wizengamot now had McGonagall, Blishwick, Doge, Ogden, Weasley, Prewitt, Lupin, Corner, Granger, Flitwick, Brown, Lovegood, Bell, Dumbledore-Abe, and Wood.

After the marathon of voting, Augusta and Neville came back to the Madhouse for dinner.

"Merlin, that was hard to keep up with." Nev commented at dinner.

"Yes. Sometimes sessions go like that." Gran replied. "Other times they are so boring you want to fall asleep."

"So, sort of like Binns' class, yeah?" Harry grinned. Augusta just smiled and nodded.

"Did you get everyone you wanted on Wizengamot?" Hermione asked.

"Not Colin or Terry Boot. We finally have two first-generation families though and a few half-bloods too." Augusta answered.

"Which two?" Luna asked.

"Granger and Finch-Fletchy." Harry smiled at his girlfriend.

"Does this mean I have to go to all the sessions?" she asked warily.

"No. Not if you want to appoint a Proxy." Sirius smiled.

"Can you do it Sirius?"

"Sure. I'll bring the paperwork home Monday."

"Do you know who's going to sit in the Weasley or Prewitt spots yet?" Nev asked.

"Arthur is going to sit in the Weasley seat and train Bill to take over. And because Molly is the last Prewitt, that seat will be held in proxy by Arthur until one of the other boys wants it. I think it will be Percy."

"It will probably be Percy." Harry contributed as he finished eating and picked up Ted. "Hi little man, how're you today?" He asked his godson. As a reward, he got his cheek pinched.

After dinner, Augusta left and everyone else went to the game room to relax.

"So, how'd it go with the twins?" Harry asked Hermione and Luna.

"Actually, it went quite well." Luna started. "We had an impromptu meeting this morning where we went over our plan. Then this afternoon we got the go-ahead for our little stand. We just have to do a little more magicking to make sure we have enough stock."

"That's going to be the hard part." Hermione mentioned. "Again, while we were both outside WWW talking to our parents on our mobiles, people came up and asked us about them. We then spent about two hours walking the Alley talking to people about whether they'd use electronic devices in their houses if they could. We got what seemed like a billion yeses and no no's." She shook her head. "Everything feels like it's moving too fast. We've been home for seven weeks now. We've buried our family, gone to Australia to bring family home, fixed the electronics working with magic problem, started a business and are about to start actively running a business. Oh, and we can't forget the proposal we made to Professor McGonagall. Not only all that but you two have been learning about your family fortunes and started your own business. It all feels like it's moving too fast." She sighed as she sat back on the divan.

"Do you feel like you need to slow down?" Harry asked. He was concerned that she sounded a lot like she did before OWLs. She had that worried quality to her voice that he didn't like. It meant she was really close to the edge and possibly screaming at everyone.

"Yes, but I can't" She put down the laptop she was working on and picked up a VCR. Harry looked at Sirius, Dora and Luna and Neville and saw the concern on their faces as well.

"Why?" Sirius asked.

"Because if either one of us slows down we won't have enough stockpile." Hermione retorted frustratedly.

"Where is the one place you like to visit when you get a chance?" Luna asked, completely off topic.

"Huh?" Hermione was confused.

"Where do you like to go to relax?" She rephrased.

"The Tower. Why?" she answered.

"The six of us are going to the Tower of London tomorrow morning." Luna declared. At the uproar of it being the Alliance dinner day, it being too late to plan a trip and other such tripe, Luna stared each person down. It was rather scary for the boys to see this dominant personality coming from quiet little Luna. "That's enough." She yelled in the same tone she used during the Battle. "My sister is so stressed out she is having difficulty calming down. We WILL be taking her to her favorite spot to relax. She needs a break—and quite frankly, so do we. We'll be back by five tomorrow. Dobby will take care of all the plans for dinner. People aren't arriving until six-thirty, therefore we will have plenty of time to get ready."

"Yes Luna." Said Harry, Neville, Sirius and Dora simultaneously.

Hermione burst out crying, went over to Luna and grabbed her in a hug. "Thanks, little sister." She smiled through her tears.

"I'd do anything for family." Luna just shrugged as though it was no big deal. But to Hermione, who had never had a girlfriend care for her, it was a big deal. She knew that Harry and Ron had cared about her since first year, but she'd never had a female friend she was as close to. It was a really good, warm feeling. She hung on to Luna for a few seconds while she got herself under control. When she sat down next to Harry, he put one arm around her and pulled her close.

"I love you Mione."

"I love you too Harry."

**Saturday 20 June 1998**

They got up Saturday morning and had a very quick breakfast. They then apparated to near the Tower and walked to get tickets to the Beefeater guided tour. They spent all morning hearing about the lives of the prisoners like Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth I and the Princes in the Tower. It was fascinating for the purebloods to learn so much history. As they walked into the Bloody Tower, they were astonished by the story of the Princes.

After the tour, Hermione was beaming. "This is why I love history. It's the story of our past. It's just too bad Binns won't talk about anything but Goblin Wars because history can be so interesting." Hermione enthused.

Harry nodded as he assimilated all the information he had received on the tour. "Henry VIII was a real bastard, wasn't he?" He asked Mione.

She laughed. "Yes, but he was Queen Elizabeth's dad, so he couldn't be too bad."

"He had her mum killed!" Dora exclaimed. "If that's not torture, I don't know what is."

"The War of the Roses sounds like it'd be interesting to study." Neville suggested.

"I want to know more about the Tower's history." Sirius supplied.

"I'd like to learn more about Henry's wives and why they ended up like they did." Luna added.

Hermione looked at her watch; it was 2 o'clock. "Why don't we eat then find a Waterstone's and we can get books on these things?" she smiled. She was ever so happy they'd enjoyed the trip and were interested in finding out more. Over lunch, she filled them in on some of the highlights of Henry VIII marriages.

"You mean to tell me he married his brother's wife?" Sirius squeaked.

"Yes Sirius. He married his _dead_ brother's wife." Hermione laughed at the look on his face.

"Ewwww."

When they got to Waterstone's, they headed for the British History section and she began recommending books. Sirius noted that all her frustrations that he saw in her face the last couple days were slowly disappearing. He was also enjoying listening to her teach because she was telling stories—not the boring stuff Binns did. "Maybe you should be a History teacher, Mione." Sirius suggested.

"Why?" She looked confused.

"You're good at telling stories so people understand it."

"Come to think of it," Harry said. "Your favorite book is Hogwarts: A History, you'd be good at this."

"Huh. I never thought of that." She went into thinking mode. "I've always thought I'd do something with Creature rights, not teaching. But if I'm on Wizengamot, I can help change laws so the other magic users don't get left out of society while teaching." She paused at the counter to pay for her 20-30 books.

"Ma'am, are you sure you're going to be able to carry all these bags?" the clerk asked.

"That's why there are three men here." Hermione smiled and the clerk laughed as the men started pouting as their stuff was rung up. Outside, she shrunk her purchases and stored them in her bag.

After Waterstone's they apparated home. "That was fun." Harry said as they all walked up to the library and dropped their purchases, knowing Hermione would want to catalogue them and put them in their proper places.

As they walked downstairs, Harry caught up to Luna. "Thanks for thinking of today. She needed that." He grinned. "Actually, I think all of us needed that—even Teddy. Did you notice he stayed awake for most of the tour?"

"Yes. He was fascinated with the guards—what were they called—Beefeaters that's right!"

"He's out like a light now." Dora contributed as she met them to go downstairs. "It's four-thirty, I'm going to have some tea—want to join?"

"Sure." They agreed as they walked to the kitchen where Sirius and Neville were already drinking tea.

"So, I think Mione's back to herself." Sirius commented.

"I think so too." Harry smiled as he drank his tea.

"I think we may need to do that every few weeks just so we don't all get as frustrated as we were." Nev supplied.

"Yeah. I think we all needed the break." Dora spoke up. Once they finished their tea, it was time to get ready for the party.

At half six, Sirius, Neville, Harry, and Augusta were at the sitting room fire waiting for the first arrivals. They moved each guest out to the terrace as more arrived. Everyone was there by 6.45, so they were out on the terrace talking to Hannah Abbott when Sirius cleared his throat.

"Hello everyone. Welcome to the Madhouse. I suppose we should have the meeting before dinner, so take any seat at the tables laid out here and we'll get started." After everyone was seated, he handed out a list of names. "These are the new members to Wizengamot. While we, as an Alliance, have chosen not to engage our Heirs in the day-to-day working of the alliance, we have decided to update you once a month with a dinner like this." He waved his hand around. "We do want your opinion on who to offer Alliance to." He paused. "So, which ones will fit in with our Alliance?"

"Hermione, the Lovegoods and Professor McGonagall." Harry chimed in.

"Weasles" Neville said.

"Wood and Bell." Hannah contributed.

"Lupin." Dora said. "If Teddy's going to be involved, he better ally with his godfather." Everyone laughed, being that the Heir to the Lupin seat was currently in Harry's arms and they were making faces at each other.

"Okay. Should we vote on each name?" Sirius asked.

"Seconded." Came from someone. And the voting began. Everyone got in with a few like Bell only passing with a bare majority.

"So now that official business is over." Sirius said with a mischievous look on his face. "The games begin. Everyone goes around, state your name and what you want to see most change in the government in the next few years." At this there was a communal groan. "I'll start. I'm Sirius Black and I'd like to see less corruption."

They each went around and while the older generation was a little reticent to speak, after all it could be used against you in future, the younger crowd was more into it. Susan Bones said she'd like to see both 'factions' work together for everyone's gain. Hermione said she'd like to see equal representation of all magical species. At this the older generation looked fearful while the younger just laughed-they remembered SPEW. Hannah said she'd like to see changes at Hogwarts. They did everyone—Sirius made sure everyone had their say whether they wanted it or not.

After that exercise, they shared a meal. Devon came over and sat with Harry and Neville. He played with Teddy while he ate. Soon it was time for everyone to leave and Neville, Harry, Sirius and Augusta made a reception line as people left. After the last person was gone everyone went into the drawing room and sat down.

"You all realise it is now 10.30? We have been up since 6 o'clock this morning, been through the Tower of London, been to a bookstore with Hermione and Luna which took forever, and had an informal dinner for Alliance members. All in one day. I think this is the busiest day since the day after the Battle." Sirius claimed.

"I wouldn't be surprised. Look at Teddy. He's out for the count. He may even sleep all night." Harry looked sadly at him.

"Why so sad, pup?"

"He's getting so big, soon he won't need me at six anymore." Harry was disappointed.

"Yes, he will." Dora assured him. "All the books say that even if he doesn't need midnight or two am feedings, he'll need his six o'clock or 'wake up feed' at the same time. So, don't worry." She smiled as Harry brightened up.

"Well, I'm off to bed." Nev pushed himself out of the chair. "Anyone wakes me—they're bantha fodder." He laughed. He really liked Star Wars.

Luna got up soon after, then Hermione and Harry. Soon, it was just Dora and Sirius. "Siri, I'd like to thank you for giving Teddy a seat on Wizengamot." She said seriously.

"Why? I would've named Remus if he was here. Teddy has my best friend's blood in his veins. He is family and I will take care of him as such." He replied determinedly.

"It means a lot to me that you've done it and that you've brought Mum and me back into the family. Mum is so excited. She got the notice yesterday and called me on Dad's phone to tell me. By the way, she wants a phone." Dora laughed.

"Well, I'm sure she can get one from Mione." He laughed.

**Sunday 21 June 1998**

The next day saw the whole house, including Teddy sleep until eight o'clock. Eventually, Harry heard crying on his wand and went into Sirius' room. Teddy wasn't there however. Not really worrying about it, he went to the nursery to find Teddy playing with his feet.

"Okay bud. Did you not wake up last night for food?" He asked the blue-haired boy as he picked him up. Like usual when Harry picked him up, his eyes turned green and his hair cycled the rainbow until it hit jet black.

Harry changed and fed him in the nursery, then they went downstairs to start breakfast. Teddy was no longer only in his bouncer in the kitchen. He was now in the swing next to the island. Usually though, he wanted in the bouncer at some point to see what Harry was up to.

Everyone came down to eat right as breakfast was ready. The rest of the family was planning on having a relaxing morning working on electronics when the young men decided to go out with Teddy.

They took him to Hogsmeade where they found a toy store with lots of stuff for babies such as a stuffed hippogriff, a small quaffle and such. Each man brought home a bag or two with toys in them.

They came home around lunch and went swimming afterwards with Teddy because Dora finally okayed it. As Harry walked into the pool, he held Teddy in front with his toes skimming the water. As he giggled and kicked his feet, Harry put him in even further. They played like this for a half hour or so and when Teddy got tired, Harry put him to bed. It was after Teddy went to bed that Harry noticed no one was downstairs. He went up to the game room and saw that everyone was working on some electronic project.

"Hey, have you taught everyone but me how to do the Runes and Charms?" He asked Mione.

"Yes. While you were in the pool, we were doing this." Mione said irritably. "Can you please count how many of each device we have?"

"Sure." He went over to the finished and shrunk pile. He started with computers. "You have twenty computers, 35 phones, 15 tellies, 15 VCR's, and 25 CD players." He told her.

"That'll have to do." She huffed as she put her telly and VCR down.

He sat next to Mione. "I'm sure that is plenty for the first week love."

"I sure hope so." She cuddled into his side as she relaxed.

HP

A little while later, they all heard the floochime and the "Hello, Hello," from the twins so they came downstairs.

"Hey guys." Harry said as he saw the twins heading outside.

"Heya Harry. Where are " Fred started

"our business partners? Are they"

"too busy for family time?"

"We're right here." Hermione answered from behind Harry. "And no, we have enough stock for the first few days _and_ we've got our first employee." She added as they headed to the Quidditch pitch.

"Who?"

"Dora." Luna replied. "We're paying her in babysitting."

"And it's working out brilliantly, isn't it ladies?" Asked Dora from behind them as she put an arm around each.

"Yup. We've got our own babysitter over there." Said Hermione as she pointed to Harry holding Teddy headed their way with some more red-heads and a few adults.

As everyone appeared for Quidditch, Hermione asked Andi, "Did you want a phone like Ted's?"

"That would be wonderful." She said as they sat down at a table and took her grandson from Harry.

"When we go back to the house, I'll set one up and give you a phone list." Hermione smiled as Teddy played with Andi's fingers. He'd taken to playing with anyone's hands. He'd sit there for minutes on end moving your fingers around if you let him, which Andi did. "You are such a cute little stinker." She smiled as she let him play.

"I understand that you and Luna are opening your own shop with these new devices. Is that true or is Ted just wishing?"

"No. It's true. We've got all sorts of equipment magicked so it'll work around magic. We've been building up stock so we won't run out on the first day."

"Well, good for you. I'm glad to see you taking some initiative and using that brain for something besides grades." She smiled at Mione as she blushed. "What are you planning on doing after Hogwarts?" she asked as the other adults, Nev and Luna sat down between the pavilion and pitch where the tables were located.

"Well, we have this company that'll probably need our attention, see?" Hermione said playfully.

"By then the shop should be either dead or self-sufficient." Luna countered. "I think you should be thinking beyond that."

"Well, then there's Wizengamot and trying to further peace between magical species."

"Yes, but once this summer's over Wizengamot only meets once a month." Augusta refuted.

"Well, maybe I'll go into the Creatures department at the ministry." She was getting a little frustrated.

"Sorry to shoot you down again but if everything works the way we hope, that department will be closed." Sirius stated. However, he noticed that she was going from frustrated to a little panicky.

"I think you should teach history." Luna said. "The boys keep saying how you are the only one capable of staying awake in History and yesterday proves you love it, so why not teach it. And when you're not teaching, we can experiment with magic." She and Hermione smiled at the idea. "We know Harry and Nev are going to go for their masteries in Defence and Herbology. I might get my Mastery in Charms and maybe we can teach part-time and experiment part time until people retire." As she kept talking, she and Hermione kept getting more and more excited until they were hugging and laughing as though no one else was there.

"It seems obvious now that that's what we should do. It just makes sense." Hermione laughed with her best girl friend.

"Well, I'm glad to see you have your whole life planned out at 18." Dan said amusingly. Hermione just rolled her eyes at her dad.

That evening, Hermione gave Andi and Molly lessons about how to use their new phones. Dora was not happy, claimed that she'd never get left alone if her mum had her number. And it turned out to be true, Andi called her that night to say goodnight!

**Monday 22 June 1998**

The next morning, Hermione and Luna were both up at the crack of dawn. They met in the kitchen as Dobby handed out hot cocoa to them both. "Couldn't sleep?" Hermione asked.

"Nope. It's like the night before the Express every year. I can never sleep then either." Luna replied. Hermione laughed at that. "I'm terrified we're going to screw this up. Neither one of us are good salespeople so I don't know how we're going to sell anything. Didn't sleep yourself?"

"No. I'm also scared we'll not make this work" Deciding not to brood, that was Harry's thing, she looked at the clock: 5.30. "Well, I s'pose we should make breakfast and make a take-away lunch so we don't have to leave if we're too busy." She sighed as she got off the island stool and got into the fridge.

"Why don't you make breakfast and I'll make lunch." Luna suggested when they heard a snap and they froze in place.

"Listen here! This is my kitchen. Just because Harry Potter Sir gets to make breakfast, doesn't mean everyone does." Dobby looked both women in the eyes very sternly. "Yous will sit at the island or table and drink cocoa or you will leave my kitchen. Do yous understands?" he snapped his fingers and they unfroze.

"That was not nice Dobby!" Hermione screeched.

"It is not nice to take over elf's jobs!" The little guy glared. Deciding not to fight just now, Hermione took another sip of cocoa.

"Fine." She grumbled.

"Dobby, could you please make us lunch so we don't have to come home today?" Luna asked in her sweetest voice.

"Dobby will bring it to you when lunch is served today." He agreed as he whirled around the kitchen. Neither girl had actually watched Dobby cook before. They found it fascinating. He combined both magical and non-magical ways of cooking.

Sooner than they imagined, both girls were on their fourth cup of cocoa and the family was sitting down to breakfast.

"So, you ready for your grand opening today?" Dora asked.

"We think so." Luna smiled tentatively. "We're going to set up this morning and officially open around ten." Looking at the clock, she noticed it was nearly eight and neither were going to eat anymore. "We're going to leave, I think." She looked at Hermione who nodded.

"Wait!" Harry yelled as he got up. "We'll come with."

The girls stopped on their way out the door, Hermione turning around said crossly "Well then hurry up. We're leaving now." Both men took one more bite and got up to leave.

"See ya!" Sirius yelled around his food as Teddy whined loudly. Harry rushed back in, kissed him on the head and rushed back out as Sirius laughed at Harry for coming back—of course he did the same thing for Harry as a little one too, so he had no leg to stand on.

HP

When everyone arrived at WWW, they started setting up. The twins had an extra display stand that they brought out for MIT to use. The boys started packing the displays with a lot of devices. On top they had a phone, computer and CD player. Next to it was a large screen telly with a VCR. They set Return of the Jedi playing on the telly with the sound muted. They put the Beatles' Please Please Me on the CD and turned it up. The girls set up a modern, and electronic, cash register. Of course, it was stocked with wizard money, not paper.

The twins had donated a flashy advert for the window of the store. **Want to know how to mix magic and electronics? Ask inside! **And because it was designed by the twins, it was coloured with all the colours of the rainbow.

At precisely 10 o'clock, they opened for business and there was already a line asking if the advert was true. Could mobiles work with magic? They had a group of about a dozen customers when Hermione's mobile rang. She answered.

"Hello."

"Hi love. Thought they'd want a demonstration." Harry offered from across the store.

She put the phone down. "The person just calling me is over there." She pointed at Harry as they all looked over.

He waved. "Hey everyone." He yelled. "Yes it works." He came closer. "We got a call from inside Hogwarts on one of these." He said.

"What if we find it doesn't work?" someone in the back of the crowd asked.

"Bring it back. We'll refund the price." Hermione smiled thanks at Harry. Everyone wanted one, at least a mobile. Hermione made the transactions, Luna taught the new users how to make calls, and Nev and Harry were restocking.

They found a lot of muggleborn classmates were buying phones or computers and found themselves talking about being able to use them at Hogwarts. Hermione's standard reply was "There's no logical reason we can't use them there. Unfortunately, I don't know if the staff will approve it."

At about 11, Mione and Luna started asking their customers whether they were muggleborn, half and half or pureblood. They were interested in who was actually buying these items.

At lunch, when they closed the display and went to the twins' workroom to eat Dobby's meal, Harry commented. "We need more mobiles. Do we have all of them or did we leave some at home?"

"We left some at home and Dora said she'd try to get more done." Hermione said biting her lip.

"What are you thinking love?" Harry asked.

"Just wondering if we need more than Dora doing this." She replied.

"Dobby might be willing to help." Luna offered.

"We'll have to pay him and he can't be overworked running the Madhouse and doing this." Hermione stipulated.

"That goes without saying." Harry smiled, knowing how she felt about Elves. Hermione had not been herself recently. After they figured out the secret to the Runes and Charms, she'd been a little depressed. He thought it had something to do with the fact that she wasn't exercising her mind like she had been. She needed a puzzle to truly make her happy. Running a business like this would be challenging for a time, but they really needed to get someone who could take over the managing of the business end soon.

Fred came in then. "Guys if you're going to need more storage space, we're going to have to put extendable charms in the warehouse." He grinned. "However, I don't see you being able to keep much stock on hand. There's another group out there looking at our wares because you aren't out there."

Hermione was terrified. "Oh Merlin!" she said as she jumped up to head out. "Mione, finish your lunch. Nev and I will handle this crowd. Harry, you go get the mobiles. We'll need them." Luna said in her deceptively calm voice. Hermione instantly calmed down_. Damn, how does Luna do that?_ She asked herself as she ate.

HP

Around three o'clock, they decided to close their display. They had sold out of all their phones and most of their computers. They sold one or two CD players and one telly and VCR.

The four youngsters had had enough for the day and needed to replenish their stock. The twins decided that they would call the Madhouse to see if they needed more hands to do the Rune and Charm work after they closed.

Nev commented on the way out "This shop across from WWW is empty. It might make a good place to move to when you get to that stage."

"Yes. It might." Luna sighed as she apparated home.

HP

When they got home, Dora, Teddy and Dobby were in the kitchen magicking the phones.

"Hello Dobby, Dora." Luna said quietly. "Did you get many phones done today?"

"Hey guys." Dora smiled as Harry took his godson from his bouncer. "Yes, we got a lot of phones done. With both of us working, we got 30 phones done. They're all up in the game room ready to go. I bought another 50 phones that we can do. How many did you sell today?"

"All of our stock." Hermione smiled. "It was amazing. It started with a half dozen people at first that didn't believe it'd work until Harry here got the brilliant idea of calling me to prove it worked. Then people were coming in because they'd been told by friends on the Alley about it."

"A lot of people said they'd be back in the next few days with their parents. They suggested that we get some Ninetendo 64's to magick. I'm hoping you Dora can get some tomorrow. Also get some –" Luna was looking through the kitchen and held up an electric mixer. "of these. I want to add kitchen appliances too."

"You should get a toaster and microwave too." Harry opined. Hermione had her laptop out and was typing as fast as they were talking.

"Is there anything else we might need to buy?" She asked as she finished typing.

"No. I don't think so." Nev said as Hermione took her laptop to the study. A few minutes later, she came out with a printed list of what and how many they should have on hand.

"Is there any reason you can't go buy some of these things tomorrow Dora?" Hermione asked as she handed her the sheet.

"Sure. But I don't know where to go." She replied.

"Go to London to Harrod's. They should have everything you need." She smiled as she laid her head on her arms. "I'm tired. I want a nap." She mumbled.

Harry took her by the shoulder. "Let's go up and take a nap, love." He whispered as he kissed her temple. He took her hand and led her upstairs where they took a nap.

Harry woke up about an hour later. While looking down at Hermione, he realised how relaxed she looked while sleeping. He hadn't seen her even close to this relaxed since they'd gotten back from Australia. Maybe they needed a vacation soon.

He got up and went to the game room where the family was congregating. Nev and Luna were cuddled up on the divan working on phones, as were Dobby and Dora, with Teddy in his bouncer. As usual, when he saw Harry he started squealing and waving his arms. And, of course, Harry headed to him to pick up. He laid on the floor and let Teddy do tummy-time on his stomach.

"It's so funny. We can be here working our fingers numb and you come up and pick up the kid. You don't even pretend to work. Teddy was fine in his bouncer until you came in." Nev laughed at the guilty look on his friend's face. He started to get up, having realised that he had just started doing what was fun rather than what was needed.

"No. Don't get up." Dora said. "He's been wanting you all day. He's looking around for his playmate and Dobby and I haven't had time to play. He's either been in his bouncer or on his playmat today. He needs some physical attention."

"Okay. Guess I'm here with you bud." He said to the boy as he lifted his head to see his godfather's face. "Yes, you're such a good boy, aren't you little man? Your Aunt Mione and Aunt Luna are so tired after their day of selling products. You wouldn't believe how many people wanted their stuff today. It was amazing." He started making faces as Teddy laughed. "You are way too cute. Especially with that grin—all the girls are going to fall for you." He put Teddy back on his playmat and set the toys spinning for him.

"You know, if you do that, he'll never learn to reach for them." Dora explained.

"Fine." He mumbled as he canceled the spell. He looked at the clock and realised he should get to work on the phones. He started adding the Runes and Charms to the phone. "I wonder why Gran and Sirius didn't insist we have a lesson today." He pondered aloud

"They told me yesterday that they knew you two were going to be busy with the display today, so decided to cancel the regular lesson." Dora contributed.

"Makes sense." Neville added. "They'd know we were not very likely to concentrate when we wanted to be there for Luna and Hermione."

Later that evening they received a firecall from Headmistress McGonagall telling them that the Board would be meeting about the proposal they had made and would like to hear from them on Thursday night.

Sirius then invited the Board to the Madhouse for dinner and the presentation. He felt the kids, especially Hermione, would stress less about it in the familiar environment.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N I love the reviews, especially the ones that correct me. As I am going to go through all the chapters to fix them and reupload them over my X-mas break (I'm a sub), I really appreciate your help. I'm hoping to upload next Sunday but I'm trying to rewrite a scene I don't like in the next chapter. Hopefully I'll make my schedule!**

**A/N This is the fixed version!**

**A/N I fixed Lavender in this chapter. Nothing else has changed.**

**Ch. 13**

**Tuesday 23 June 1998**

Tuesday morning, the young men woke up earlier than usual. They met downstairs in the kitchen. "Hey Nev. You ready for our meeting with Ted and Venus today?" Harry asked.

"Yeah. Did you ever write the things we wanted to discuss with them down?"

"Yeah. Sunday night. Let's make sure we bring my computer, yeah?" He smiled, thinking of the changes this technology could make in their lives. "You know, we've got some amazing girlfriends, right?"

"Yeah but what specifically are you talking about?" Nev smiled.

"They're smarter than anyone else in the world, they're beautiful, care about everyone and for some unknown reason love the two of us. There's nothing special about us, so why us? How'd we get so lucky?" Harry asked.

"I have absolutely no idea but I don't plan on wasting it." Nev replied seriously. Harry cracked an egg and looked up at his best mate.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm gonna ask Luna to marry me before we go back to school." The look of determination on Nev's face would have scared him if he didn't know the man.

Harry chuckled as he went back to preparing breakfast. "I'm gonna ask Mione too."

Nev laughed. "Great minds and all that."

Dobby popped in then. "Harry Potter Sir, Master Teddy is awake. I cans take over here while you get him."

"Oh no!" Harry groaned as he put the pan down. "Better get the little man or he'll have a fit." He muttered as he walked away.

"Dobby?" Nev asked.

"Yes Master Neville."

"Why does your English sound better than it did when Sirius first hired you?" Dobby became tense. "There's nothing wrong. I was just wondering."

"Well, if Is going to be Harry Potter Sir's elf, it would be bad if I didn't speak properly." He answered.

"So who's teaching you?"

"Mitzy." He said fearfully. "Please don't hurt her."

"Our Mitzy? At Longbottom Estate?"

"Yes Master Neville. Is asked her to and she agreed to give me lessons on Mondays when you're there."

"That's great Dobby. Good for you." Nev smiled at the little guy's initiative.

"You aren't angry Master Neville? You wonts hurt her?" Dobby was wringing his hands.

"Dobby, please look at me." Dobby looked at Nev with a worried expression. Nev looked into his eyes. "We never hurt our house elves. We would never do that. In fact, I'm glad she's helping you. You and Mitzy are both very good house elves."

At that Dobby jumped on his leg saying "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

Harry and Teddy walked in with the rest of the family to eat breakfast. For Nev it was an interesting concept to think of these people as family. Besides his Gran, he'd never really felt like he had an actual family. Sure, he had his Uncle Algie and relatives like that, but family, no. These odd people were his family, he thought as he sat down to eat with them.

HP

After breakfast, the young men and women left the Madhouse for Diagon Alley. When they got to WWW, the men helped their girlfriends get their cart ready with all the equipment they had magicked last night. When they were done, they gave the girls kisses and left for Gringotts.

"Wow." Harry whispered under his breath. "Do you realise Nev that we have dropped off our girlfriends at their own business and are about to consult on our own and we're not even 18 yet?"

Nev just shook his head. "I know. Weird isn't it?" he asked "I wonder when they're going to need or want to expand. I mean, they have a lot of stock now and are going to need more room than that little cart they have. I saw the shop across from WWW is for rent, maybe we should bring it up to them soon."

"Yeah. We should probably wait until they bring it up. Mione has this need to control things. If she doesn't see the need for it, she won't even think of it. I just hope she's learned not to run herself into the ground like she did third year."

"Yeah, that was bad." Nev snickered as they walked into Gringotts and to Ted's office.

They knocked and Trainee Swordback came to the door. "Good morning Trainee Swordback. May you always see where deals can be made." Harry said as he bowed.

"May your ventures always be profitable, Harry."

"May your gold always grow Trainee Swordback." Nev greeted.

"May your life be long and profitable, Neville."

Ted came out from around his desk. "So boys. I understand you have hired a Head for your orphanage, yeah?" He questioned.

"You know we have." Harry rolled his eyes. They had discussed this at dinner on Sunday.

Ted laughed. "And I called her yesterday to make sure she was coming today."

Just as he finished saying that, a knock was heard at the door. Trainee Swordback brought Venus back in and all five of them sat at a table to go over their ideas.

"Nev and I have done some talking over the weekend and think our next step is to find architects to work with." Harry started.

"That makes sense." Ted agreed. "I can talk to some of my contacts here at Gringotts and find a few to interview if you want?"

"That sounds great." Nev enthused. "Maybe we can use the mock drawings we made on Friday to get us started."

"How many orphans are you planning to taking in at a time?" Venus asked.

"I don't know. How many does Hufflepuff House have?" Harry returned.

"We have space for 20 children of each group." Venus answered.

"Is that too many or can you see taking more?" Nev wanted to know.

"Well, that is all we can physically handle. I'm just wondering how many you want to house because we can adjust the size of the place to fit if we want."

"We don't want to house them. Any orphanage can do that. We want this to be their home." Harry sighed. "Look, each time I left Hogwarts every June, I felt as though I was leaving home for just a place to sleep. I don't want that for these kids. I want them to look forward to coming back. I want them to bond with the staff because they feel loved. If that means we limit it to eighty kids, great. That just means we're going to need to build more of these places. However, if you think we can take more and still have staff to children ratios low, then let's do that."

All during this speech, Nev saw Venus calculating whether they could take more. "I think we should aim to home at most 160 and see how that goes."

"That means we need to house 40 kids per tower. Plus, one flat in each tower should have an adult." Nev reminded. "Forty kids per tower with 2 kids sharing each room. That's twenty rooms if we have 40 kids—to make them big enough and have their own bathroom, we should probably limit them to 4 rooms a floor. Each room would be 450 square feet with bath so that'd be 1800 square feet per floor. Of course, then there is the adult flat at the top that should be at least 1000 square feet. So that's 5 floors each 1800 square feet plus one with 1000 square feet flat."

"That's bigger than some muggle homes." Ted said. "I think you might be thinking too large boys. You also need dining space, office space, a game room and classrooms—all in one building."

"However," Venus looked encouraging. "Let's start there and see how much it would cost to do it."

Harry looked at her seriously. "Are we being overly ambitious?"

"No, I don't believe so. However, nothing has been done on this scale before that I am aware of. Hufflepuff House is the largest one I've seen and you're talking much larger than that. I told Auntie what you were planning at dinner Sunday. She warned me to keep you in check because otherwise you would try to and I quote house the world." She answered laughed at the looks of horror on their faces. "What? Did you think I'd not talk to Aunt Minnie about this?" She shook her head as the young men just sat there shocked.

"It's not that you shouldn't talk to your Aunt about your job. It's that Harry and I have trouble with the fact that you are related to the Lioness of Gryffindor. You may not be aware but to a first year student, she's scary." Nev sighed.

She shook her head. Her Aunt had a reputation at Hogwarts but, maybe because she was her Aunt, Venus never saw that scary Lioness. Of course, she was a Hufflepuff herself! "Let's look at the designs again and firm them up. Then maybe you can take me out to the property to look it over and see where we'd want to situate it."

"Good idea." Harry agreed as he got his computer out and they started building their virtual orphanage. They placed the four towers and orientated both the bedrooms and common rooms in their correct places. They played with the entrances to the towers being on the ground floor and using stairways and corridors for getting to the classrooms.

"We really need to make this simpler than getting around at Hogwarts because some of these kids will be really little and not be able to handle a complex system of hallways and corridors." Nev said.

They just kept throwing out ideas and had a fairly good map of what they wanted the place to look like after two hours. When Neville, Venus and Harry were satisfied that they could take their draft to an architect, they decided to go to the property.

When they got there and Venus realised they would take an overview on brooms, she was nervous. "Harry, I'll ride with you because I've heard of Neville's exploits on a broom." Both men laughed. "But, remember, I've heard of your exploits too so no dangerous stunt while I'm on board!" she sounded like the Professor, so he just had to tease.

"Okay. I'll wait until we're done to give you a real ride." He grinned cheekily at her as she scowled. Then he sighed. "Fine. No stunts. Happy?" He asked grouchily.

"Very much." She replied as they set out and found where they wanted to put the main road and the actual home.

HP

They arrived back at WWW around noon as the women were closing down for lunch. "Hi Mione." Harry said as he gave her a kiss.

"Hi love." She kissed him back as she finished up with a customer. As he put his arms around her from behind, someone asked "Are you two going out?"

Harry looked around and saw Parvati Patil in the shop. He smiled as Mione rested on him. "Hey Parvati. Yes, we are."

"That's so interesting." She smiled back. "When did that happen?"

"After the battle." Mione replied as she closed up the cart. The quartet then walked to the back room to eat the lunch Dobby must have brought. There was a table with four places set and a steaming lunch. "Thank Merlin for Dobby." Mione muttered as she sat down.

"Yeah. That little guy knows exactly what we need, when we need it." Harry smiled as all four started to eat. "So, how did this morning go?" he asked both women.

"Well, I can say that I truly hate selling things." Mione complained. "You have to explain everything multiple times. Quite frankly, we need more space than the little cart. I noticed this morning that people coming to our cart were impeding traffic in the store. I'm thinking we get a license and move it out onto the Alley itself. It's not fair to Fred and George."

"And we need more workers." Luna added. "And more room. The cart just isn't big enough."

Harry and Nev looked at each other, both thinking of their conversation this morning. "What would you girls think of moving the shop to right across the alley?" Harry asked.

Luna and Hermione looked at each other curiously. "We've been talking in the break times we've had about just handing our idea off to a store manager and having them run it. Then each time we figure out how to magic an item, we can teach it to the staff and they can do it."

"Or we could have a front store staff that just sells these gadgets and a back staff that just converts them." Mione paused, biting her lip. "Or we could cross train them to do both jobs and when they're not selling, they're converting. But we'd need a manager that has already had experience running a store."

Harry went to the floor and brought back Fred. "What can I do for you?" Fred asked.

"I was wondering if you'd run into anyone who has experience managing a store and would want to run a shop for us?" Harry asked.

"Are you thinking about expanding?" He returned.

"Do you think it's too soon?" Luna asked.

"Merlin no. I think you'd be crazy not to expand. You can only sell so much from that tiny cart. We gave you that because we thought you'd outgrow it soon and it would force you to either become businesswomen or throw in the towel. Honestly, I bet you'd expand as soon as you saw how busy you'd be. George thought you'd throw in the towel. Lee, Angelina, Percy, Audrey, and Fleur were with me. Ron and Bill were with George. I win!"

Everyone laughed at that as Mione rolled her eyes and muttered "Honestly, you bet on everything!"

"Yes, we do!" Fred grinned. "As to a manager, I would actually suggest Angelina. She's spent the last two years taking business classes at a muggle college while she tries out for Quidditch teams. She's always talked about going into stocks strading, I think it's called, if this Quidditch thing doesn't work. She might be able to run the store for you."

Hermione laughed. "It's called stock trading, Fred. Maybe we could talk to the rental office today and see how much it'd cost to rent and take a look at it and talk to Angie tonight."

"Would you like our new employee Brian to watch the cart for you this afternoon?" Fred asked. At the look of relief on their faces, he laughed. "You guys are not really salespeople. It's been really fun watching you flounder but, since you won me the bet, I'll front you Brian for the rest of the week. Just keep it stocked, yeah?"

Hermione got up and gave him a hug. "Thank you, Fred. I love the research but hate the selling."

As they finished lunch, Harry and Nev headed to the ministry for the first meeting of the Awards Committee that Nev headed while their loves went to the Diagon Alley Rental Office with Fred to look into the shop across the alley.

By the time the young men got to the conference room Sirius has booked for them, it was half one. Sirius was there to greet them. "Hey boys. How'd it go today?" he asked as they sat at the round table.

"Well, we took Venus out to the site and decided where it would go. We also finished up our mock-

up for the architect." Harry said.

"Then we had lunch with the girls and they decided they were going to look into renting the place across the alley and hiring a staff. Angelina may be coming to dinner tonight to 'interview' for a store manager position." Nev finished.

Sirius' eyes widened as they kept talking. "Sounds like a busy day." He shook his head. "I thought I would stay for the first part of this meeting, maybe the first 10 minutes, to make sure they don't eat you both."

"We wouldn't eat them." Charles Abbott said. "Gnaw on them but not eat them." He laughed as he came in.

"Just remember. My godson killed Voldemort and Nev killed Voldemort's familiar." Sirius grinned as Charles went a little green.

The members of the Awards Committee were: Silas Greengrass, Aldrich Ollivander, Terry Boot, Tonks, Hestia Jones, Bill Weasley, Ernest Macmillan, Henry Slughorn, Nev, Harry, and Charles Abbott.

"Welcome everyone. My name is Neville Longbottom. I fought at the Battle at the Ministry in 1996 and the Battle of Hogwarts. I'd like us all to go around and introduce ourselves in case everyone has not met. Starting to my right. Just say your name and what you did during the war."

"My name's Bill Weasley. I worked at Gringotts and fought at the Battle of Hogwarts." And thus, introductions began.

It finally ended with "I'm Harry Potter and I fought at the Battle at the Ministry and the Battle of Hogwarts." He said quietly, looking at his hands on the table.

Everyone started chuckling at the absurdity of the statement. Eventually, Harry looked up and everyone was looking back at him. "What?" he asked.

"Does he really not understand what he did?" Ollivander asked.

"Yes." Bill laughed softly. "He doesn't get what he did for all of us. But it's no use explaining it. I've tried."

"Look." Harry said, letting a little edge into his voice. "I did what was right. I got rid of the bloody bastard. End of story."

"Yes. Well. Thank you, son." Charles said.

"Okay." Nev began. "I understand that there are three classes of Order of Merlin's. I suggest we add a fourth class or a different name for the award for anyone who was wounded in both wars be awarded at least third class. Does anyone disagree?"

"I don't disagree with the concept but what do we call it?" Dora asked.

Everyone threw out names and they were each debated. Eventually, around 5.00, they agreed on Dragon Heart. They also decided on a Horntail Dragon on a red background.

"Okay, we've come up with the design. I'll have an artist friend do a mock-up for next week and we can name who gets one. Is there a master list of those wounded we could use?" Nev asked.

"I know there is for the First war and I think the Ministry is putting one together for this war." Charles said.

"Okay, I'll get copies of those for us next week." Nev stood up. "Thank you all for your service on this committee. See you next week." And the meeting broke up.

The boys walked to the floo in silence and floo'd home as soon as possible.

HP

Harry did a 'Point me Teddy' and found him in the drawing room with Andi. Nev sat down and groaned. Harry picked Teddy out of the swing and sat down next to Nev.

Andi smiled. "You two look exhausted." She finally said.

"We had our first Awards Meeting today." Nev sighed.

"I know. That's why I'm here babysitting Teddy."

"Well, you try to get 10 stubborn people to agree on anything. Not possible."

"That fun, huh?" she chuckled. "So what'd you decide?"

"We decided on a new award 'the Dragon Heart' for anyone wounded or killed in either war." Harry submitted. "It was a bloody nightmare. They kept looking to me to make these decisions." He was starting to get angry and didn't want it to effect his godson, so calmed himself. "I killed the bastard but they want my opinion on everything." He looked at his little man. "I needed to come home and hold you little man." He smiled at Teddy and his godson grinned back. "I love you Teddy."

"And he loves you too Harry." Dora said from behind him. Teddy grinned, squealed and reached up to Dora. "Thank you." She whispered as she took her son.

Soon, the rest of the family arrived and Andi went home. The residents of the Madhouse sat talking about inane things until Angelina and Fred arrived.

"Hi Angelina. Good to see you. Come to the drawing room." Sirius invited.

Hermione got up. "So glad you two could make it."

"Thanks." Angelina looked confused." Why am I here?"

Hermione glared at Fred. "You were supposed to tell her."

"Decided this would be more fun." He grinned at the men as Angie hit him on the back of his head.

"Dinner is served." Dobby announced formally as everyone went to the kitchen and sat down.

"Well, Angie." Mione dove in. "You know we've been selling our electronics at WWW, right?" Angie nodded. "Okay, here's the thing. Luna and I are not salespeople, businesspeople or anything like that." Harry snorted as did Nev. They glared at their boyfriends. "Anyway, we know we need to expand. The little cart we have isn't working; we need more space. But we don't want to run it. Fred said that you were interested in running a business and that you had taken classes in business at a muggle college." She took a breath and took Harry's hand under the table. "Would you be willing to run MIT with the understanding that you get a 10 percent share in the company at the end of the first year we make a profit?"

Ang looked at Fred. "What do you think? You're the business mogul, do you think this will succeed?"

"I do, love. I think you'll be getting in on a revolution, once everything is done. Think about it." He said. "How much has having a mobile helped us keep in touch? We talk every night now. Soon you won't have to floocall anyone. And the computers are amazing for businesses. My advice is do it."

Ang looked at her bosses. "How much say do I have in hiring and firing?"

"Well, at first, we'd like to do it together because we have to make sure they can convert the phones but once we're off at school, we'll talk when needed." Luna looked at the notes under her drink."

"Okay. I'll do it. Have you found a shop yet?" Ang grinned.

At that, the girls and Fred burst out laughing. "Yeah. It's the shop across from WWW and, thanks to Fred's wheeling and dealing, we got an amazing price and it comes with an apartment upstairs if you want it." Hermione offered.

The rest of the evening was talking details. They spent time showing Angie how to convert the mobiles. Talked about Brian staying and running the cart while everyone opened the shop. Fred offered to help them set up and hire personnel. They came up with a store logo, which was a stylized version of the initials being carried by a white snowy owl in flight, in honor of Hedwig. They proceeded to come up with fliers and print them up. The men were going to put them up along Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade in the morning.

After dinner, they moved to the drawing room as Fred agreed to introduce the three girls around to all the important shop owners tomorrow. He'd also agreed to mentor Ang on bookkeeping, keeping track of stock, managing and hiring staff and 'all the other shite you need to know as you start a shop' as Fred put it.

It was a load off the girls' shoulders to have someone else do what Mione and Luna thought of as drudgery work. They could run the business. The previous two days were proof that they could keep the cart stocked, take care of the business end and sell to customers. However, they liked to invent, take things apart and fix them. Basically, they liked the higher-order problem solving of their work. This worked for everyone perfectly.

Around nine o'clock, right as Fred and Ang were leaving, Professor McGonagall floocalled. They invited her in for tea and the family sat down in the drawing room.

She looked at Harry bottle feeding Teddy and smiled softly at them. "Don't worry Harry. I won't take him from you."

Everyone laughed as Dora commented, "I don't think Teddy would let you anyway Minerva."

"Too true." She sighed. "There are a few things I'd like to talk to you about tonight. First, after I talked to you today Sirius, I sent messages to the Board suggesting we meet here Friday night at 6. We'll have our usual meeting in your study, relax with dinner, then you give your presentation. The reasons we should do it this way are two-fold. First, it gives us more time to prepare. Second, no one feels stressed to leave because they have to get up in the morning. Is this acceptable?" Everyone nodded. "There are a certain number of things on your list that I, as Headmistress, have a say in. First, I have hired a new Potions teacher and a new DADA teacher. Second, I'm hiring a half-blood with a degree in Muggle History from Princeton and a Mastery in History of Magic to teach both to our students. Third, I revamped the points system and my deputy, Professor Flitwick already knows this is to apply across the board. One of his new jobs is going to be looking at the points given or taken each day and see whether they're reasonable and in line with the new rules. If not, measures will be taken to fix that."

Luna grinned. "Professor Flitwick is Deputy Headmaster?" Minerva nodded. "Brilliant. He's great!"

"You're just saying that cause he's your Head." Nev nudged her as she stuck her tongue out.

"Children." Minerva used her Professor voice and they stopped immediately as did Sirius and Dora, who looked up guiltily. She just laughed at the fact that she could still cow students she hadn't had for 20 years.

"Headmistress?" Hermione asked. "We'll go through the presentation tomorrow. Could you come for dinner tomorrow night so we can go over changes?"

"Of course, Hermione." She smiled at her favorite student. Then she looked at the young men. "I hear you hired my niece to help you build an orphanage, is that true?"

"Yes." Harry answered. "And can you pleeease stop telling her stories about us?"

"When you have one normal year, I will."

"That means never, kiddo." Sirius laughed. Harry just rolled his eyes. Soon enough, Minerva left and Harry put Teddy to bed.

When the quartet went to bed that night, everyone was satisfied, or ecstatic, about what had occurred that evening.

**Wednesday 24 June 1998 **

The next day, Nev met Teddy and his godfather downstairs while Harry was cooking breakfast. "Hey you two." Nev greeted as he kissed Teddy on the head.

"Hey mate. I understand that we are supposed to be at Wizengamot today to witness the swearing in of the new members." Nev nodded as Harry reached in his back pocket and got his small notebook out. "Look at the third sheet. There's a list of things I think we should get done today. Why don't you go through it and add anything you think we need to do?"

"Sure." Nev took the notebook and looked at it. "That's not a bad day. . . We may even get to help the girls with converting some appliances before we go to Wizengamot. So, we're going to hand out fliers this morning. We may have to play on your celebrity to get our fliers in the door." He warned his celebrity shy friend.

"We could use yours. You are well-known as well."

"Yeah. I don't have my name plastered in books of famous wizards. That's you mate." He grinned at his brother.

"Don't remind me." Harry groaned. Their conversation petered out as everyone came down for breakfast.

"So, you girls are going to go out with Fred to look at the store and buy shelving today?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah. But this morning we're going to the Floo Office to register our address and get hooked up." Mione said.

"Everyone here besides little man has to be in dress robes and at Wizengamot at three o'clock, yeah?" Padfoot said seriously.

"Yeah, we know." Dora groaned. "That means someone gets to take care of Teddy while I take a shower." She brightened at that.

"Don't worry. We'll be home for lunch." Harry responded. Then he had an idea. "Nev, I don't think we have to use my celebrity." He grinned mischievously. "Dora, how'd you like this morning off? We can take Teddy on the few errands we have to run today."

"Sure! Let me go get his things." Dora ran upstairs and came back with his nappy bag.

"I've got the fliers." Nev held up the folder with the fliers.

"Hogsmeade first, yeah?" Harry asked as he situated Ted in the carrier. At Nev's nod, they disapparated.

Hermione looked at Sirius. "Uncle Sirius, are you coming back for lunch?"

"Yeah. I've got a meeting this morning to firm up the wording for your oaths. Merlin, I can't wait until we go back to monthly meetings in July." He rolled his eyes. "Politicians are so difficult to deal with. I know certain laws have to be repealed and some need updating but we haven't been able to do anything really because we don't have enough bodies. We've been going through and making sure that all the Heads of Departments are the right people for the job but we can't get any legislation passed until after today." He sighed.

"Well, we'll see you for lunch then." Hermione smiled and gave him a kiss on the cheek as she and Luna disapparated.

When they got to the Floo Office, Luna got in line and Hermione sat down. After registering their address as MIT, they floo'd to WWW to have Fred help them with setting up. However, they first stocked the cart. Fred then took them all around the Alley to meet the owners of other shops.

HP

When the boys apparated to outside the Three Broomsticks, Nev finally asked, "So how are you not going to use your celebrity?"

Harry just looked at his godson. "Simple. I'm going to use Teddy. Watch and learn." He smirked at his godbrother as they walked in

"Hi boys." Rosmerta said as she peered at Teddy. "And who is this cutie?" she asked as Harry took him out of the carrier.

"This is my godson, Teddy Lupin." Harry smiled down at the baby.

"You mean Remus' kid?" she asked, shocked.

"Yup. Remus didn't make it but Dora did, so we're raising Teddy. Sirius, Hermione, Dora and I."

"Well, that's good. He'll need you in his life, especially to balance out Sirius." Rosmerta laughed. "You'll need to balance out his wilder tendencies. He and the rest of those hooligans had a habit to turning Minerva more grey every year."

Nev and Harry laughed at that. "We were wondering if we could put up some fliers for Hermione and Luna's new shop in your window?" Harry asked.

"Of course." She agreed.

When they went through all of High Street and put fliers in all the shops, Nev was convinced. "Babies make it much easier to get help. And you didn't have to pull the boy who lived crap at all."

"You even got it to work when you took him in." Harry reminded him. "Apparently, people like to see men with babies and they soften up." He finished as they went to The Hog's Head and checked on Abe. They reminded him about Wizengamot that afternoon. All they got was a grumbled. "Fine. I'll be there."

"Right then." Nev sighed. "Let's go to the Alley."

HP

They apparated right outside MIT. "Should we go into the store first or distribute the fliers?" Nev asked as he was bowled over by a blonde missile.

"I missed you." Luna squealed as Harry was given the same treatment by a taller brunette.

"Harry, you should see what we've done with the place. We've set up all sorts of tables to display our items. We've actually enlarged both the front space and back so we have more than enough room so people don't feel crammed. We've actually got a workspace in back that we can experiment in and a space to store excess items." She took a deep breath as she had run out of air and grabbed his hand. "Well, just come here." She pulled him inside.

Inside, two walls were neon red and gold and two were neon blue and bronze. "You had Fred paint it didn't you?" He grinned.

"He chose the colors. We couldn't decide, so he said go for bold." Luna replied as she was hugging Nev.

All of the tables were dressed in either one of those color schemes. Each table had stools around it so people could sit and play with the items. In the middle of the shop was a higher counter that had all four colors on it. It also had a cash register. It was obviously the check out stand. In the corners were tellies and VCR's.

"Come into the back." Luna invited as she led the way. She opened the door to a big room. "This will be our break room. We are thinking of putting some games and a few couches and a telly in here. Now come this way." She took a door on the left side of the room. There were four work stations with benches and shelving. To Harry, it looked kind of like a muggle woodworking shop.

"This is really neat." He commented. "Are you going to hire someone just to convert stuff?"

"Yeah. Angie and we have decided to have 2 full time people doing conversions and a customer service staff. Soon, we'll cross train everyone but at the start we need someone dedicated to building up stock." Mione replied.

Luna looked at her watch. "Hermione it's 10.15. We have our first interview in 15 minutes." She started hauling Nev to the front of the store.

"But we haven't even gotten all the fliers out!" He protested.

"Yes but Fred talked to some people that want a job. He set up the interviews." Luna answered as she pushed Nev out. "You guys need to go."

"Will we see you at lunch?" Harry enquired.

"Yes love." Mione reached up and kissed him. "I love you. And thank you for believing in us." She whispered.

"I love you too. And I'll always believe in you. You're the smartest witch I know." He put another kiss on her forehead as the men left.

"Bloody hell. That store's going to be brilliant. I mean, they already have interviews lined up. This is great." Nev enthused.

"Yeah. Let's get these fliers out so they can get more and open on Monday." Harry answered. They spent the next hour going to all the big stores to put fliers up.

When they got to Quality Quidditch Supplies, Harry just stood looking in the window. Nev took one look and said, "I'll be right back. You won't leave the store if you go in." He took Teddy out of Harry's hands and went inside all the while shaking his head at his Quidditch mad brother. He was back in 5 minutes. Harry was still gawking at the new Firebolt II.

"They said that Firebolt just came out this week." Nev offered as he dragged Harry away.

"Did they say how much it was?"

"200 G. For a broom. It's silly."

"Sorry to sound like Ron but it's a Firebolt II. If I hadn't just bought a new Firebolt, I would so buy that." Nev laughed.

They finished up with the distribution around 11 and decided that, since they were in the Alley, they'd go start the account for the orphanage. They had decided that the Longbottoms and Potters would each put one million galleons into the fund. So, they went to see Trainee Swordback to set it up.

They were home by 12.

HP

They apparated home and saw a load of bags in the entrance hall. It looked like Dora had been out buying new items to convert. She came into the entrance hall as they were getting oriented.

"Hey, there's my boy." Dora cooed as she took Teddy. They all went into the drawing room. "How'd he do today?"

"He was great. He stayed up most of the time in Hogsmeade but fell asleep in the Alley for about half an hour as we did our stuff. I bet he sleeps most of the time we're gone today. He just ate and I changed his nappy. He should be content for a while." Harry reported to the new mum.

"Thank you for taking such good care of him." Dora responded.

"He's my godson. Of course I'll take care of him." Harry looked confused.

"It's not that I don't think you do, it's that I worry when he's not with me." Dora explained.

"Hello, Hello, Hello." Came Sirius' fake jovial voice from the hall.

"In here Pads." Harry projected his voice.

Pads flopped down on a chair. "I hate politicians." He groaned.

"So do I. That's why you hold my proxy." Harry laughed at the look on his face.

"Is anyone home?" They heard from the hall.

"In here Mione." Harry answered as she came in and sat next to him. "Did you hire anyone?"

"Yup three of the four had passed their NEWTS with Exceeds or Outstanding in Runes and Charms. Two of them want to be the people converting the equipment and the other wants to start on the floor." She smiled at her boyfriend.

"We hired all three." Luna concluded.

"That's great. We got the Alley and Hogsmeade plastered with those fliers so you should be getting enquiries soon." Nev added. "When do they start?"

"Tomorrow." Hermione was still smiling. "We're also thinking about opening Saturday rather than Monday."

"Will you have enough people and stock?" Sirius asked.

"We think so with Fred and George's help."

Dobby popped in. "Lunch is served." He intoned formally as they got up for lunch.

"You know, I really enjoy these lunches." Nev asserted.

"Yes. Me too." Sirius answered. "It's the break in the day of hassles and insanity that I need when dealing with idiot politicians."

"It's nice to know that we all eat together as much as possible." Dora commented.

"And I like the work of cooking all the meals." Dobby added. They laughed. "I can't wait to have more babies to care for." He looked directly at both couples as they blushed and Sirius and Dora laughed.

Trying to change the subject, Harry asked, "Nev, I was wondering if you could take me to see your mum today before Wizengamot?"

"Sure." His godbrother's eyes lit up. "I know she'd love to see you."

After lunch, Sirius went back to the Ministry, the young men got dressed into their formal robes so they didn't have to come home from hospital to change and the women started reviewing the plans for Hogwarts while Dora and Dobby converted electronics.

HP

When the men got to hospital, they went directly to The Janus Thicke Ward. The nurse came over to greet them.

"Hello. May I help you?" she asked.

"I'm Neville Longbottom, Frank and Alice's son. This is Alice's godson-"

The woman gasped. "Harry Potter." She suddenly got very nervous. "My name is MediWitch Johnson. I just started here. I'm so sorry I didn't recognise you both."

"That's okay." Harry sighed at the doe eyes the woman was making at him. He really hated his celebrity. "I'd just like to see my god-mum please."

"Of course, this way." The MediWitch answered as she showed them to the Longbottoms' room.

Alice looked up as they entered. She smiled at Neville and handed him a gum wrapper.

"Hi mum. Hi dad. I brought a friend to see you. This is Harry Potter." He introduced bringing Harry forth.

"Hi Alice." He said softly as he sat next to her bed. "I'm James and Lily's kid. You're my Godmum. I thought you'd want to know Voldemort's dead for good. Bellatrix is too." And he started filling her in on his life. She seemed to know he was talking to her and that they were important to each other. She also seemed to enjoy the tail of his adventures.

The longer Harry spent with her though; the more he realised what he could have had if not for Bellatrix and the angrier he got. Alice seemed to have a peaceful look on her face, as though she was genuinely a nice person under normal circumstances. The more he talked and held her hand, the more he wished he'd never lived with the Dursleys.

After an hour or so, the boys left. "I don't know how you do it Nev. I had a hard time watching the vacant stare that came over her. I can't imagine how you feel."

HP

After their visit, the men floo'd to the Ministry's Atrium. They met up with their girlfriends and went down to Wizengamot Hall. They split up, going to their own seats.

At 3.00, Wizengamot came to order. They had all the new members standing on the floor with their wands out. Kingsley then read the Oath of Office "I, name inserted, solemnly swear to uphold the laws of Wizengamot. I affirm that I will protect and defend those that are under Wizengamot jurisdiction to the best of my abilities. I will not be a member of a terrorist organization as long as I am a member of this body. I take this vow of my own volition as I take up my seat. So mote it be." Everyone repeated each line as he said it. Each member was engulfed in some color of light, depending on their family magic, at the conclusion of the oath.

After everyone had taken their vow and was seated, Chief Witch Marchbanks stood. "Those of us who have been in this body since the war ended, realise we need to change how things are done. We waited to have all the members available, to have a majority, so we could commission a few Committees to make a few changes." The bailiff started handing out parchment to every member. "On your parchment, there are a list of committees. Tap your wand to the committee you would like to join. You may serve on a maximum of three committees. If you are holding a Proxy for a House, you may still only serve on three. Please choose carefully as each committee has very specific goals. We will take a 10 minute recess to let you decide." She banged her gavel and the talking began.

As Sirius was holding Proxy for not only Harry but Hermione as well, they sat closely, looking at the list. "Uncle Sirius, could you put your name down for the committee looking into rewriting Creature laws?" Hermione asked.

"I knew you'd want me there." Sirius smiled down at her.

"Could you be on the committee looking into corruption at the Head of Department level?" Harry asked. "We really need to make sure everyone is clean."

"Sure." Sirius agreed.

"What about this one?" Hermione asked, pointing to Committee to Rewrite Hiring Guidelines. "Will that deal with merit-based hiring instead of blood-status hiring?"

"I believe so." Sirius said as he put the tip of his wand below the title.

Chief Witch Marchbanks thumped her gavel again. "Please come to order." She stated as everyone quieted down. "Now that you have all chosen, each committee will have five people. The list will be out on Friday of who is on what committee and when they will present their findings. Every committee will present their findings and proposed changes before the end of summer so we may vote on them. It will be up to the members of the committee to determine when they meet. We will only be having our regular monthly meetings in July and August unless a committee needs to present findings." She looked at her watch. "Meeting adjourned." She whacked her gavel again.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N This is the chapter I was having trouble with but I'll let you be the judge. Give me your thoughts please.**

**Ch. 14**

**Wednesday 24 June 1998**

"Well, it looks like an early day for us." Sirius grinned as he looked at his watch. "It's only 4.30, why don't we go to the Madhouse for dinner?"

"Sounds good." Hermione responded. "But Minerva's coming over for dinner too. We're going to go over the changes to the curriculum, taking into account what she's done already."

"Okay. I assume you made these changes this afternoon?" Sirius asked.

"Yes." Luna confirmed as they stepped on the lift.

"So, Augusta, which committees did you sign up for?" Sirius asked the older Lady.

"Budget for the Coming Year, Hiring Guidelines, and Department of Child Services Changes." She responded as they came to the floos. She took a pinch of powder and called out "The Madhouse." As she floo'd away. Everyone else followed suit.

The older adults decided to sit in the drawing room, while the younger went to the game room. Hermione brought her computer up. She had developed a spreadsheet to organise the information she had.

As Nev and Harry played pool with Teddy, the women were finalizing their proposal to Minerva.

Headmistress McGonagall arrived at six o'clock with the four youngsters meeting her at the floo and taking her to the study.

"We've taken out all of the items you have already changed." Luna began. "With the inclusion of muggle history to our history classes, we were thinking about having another mandatory class which would be Wizarding and Muggle Etiquette and Culture. We were thinking of this instead of Muggle Studies. It would be taught by someone living on both sides, like Andromeda Tonks."

"We are thinking of having her put a curriculum together for each year and starting the actual class next year. That way she would have plenty of time to figure out which books to use and what she actually wants the students to know." Hermione added.

"Actually, I was concerned about starting a whole new class in less than two months." Minerva sighed. "I was going to talk to you about that."

"Andi is a good choice for this role." Augusta commented. "She's a pureblood the board cannot have a problem with, yet she has lived in the muggle world as well."

"Has anyone talked to her about it?" Minerva asked.

"I have. She'd love to do it if she's asked." Dora answered.

"As to the introduction of new sports, Luna and I believe that we should have one of the first Saturdays be a Field Day, like they have in primary school. Each sport has a tent with a cornered off area where a student who is familiar with the sport can teach the rules to interested students. For instance, Dean is as football crazy as my dad. He would set up a field and start a game." Hermione suggested. "Since we'll be putting a basketball court in the Chamber, we can have someone there who can teach the rules. We can do the same for Cricket and Rugby as well as Swimming."

"Nev and I thought that house teams for the popular sports could form and we could play each other like quidditch." Harry offered.

"Can you find students to run these?" Minerva asked.

"Dean's into football, Seamus plays rugby, Dennis Creevy is really into Cricket and, if I remember right, Melinda Bobbin is a basketball fan. I can write to each and get their help." Hermione said.

"Please get on that soon."

"I found correspondence courses for those that want them this year to keep up in English, Maths and Science. I would suggest you look for squibs or others that know about our world that can teach these subjects. We are also suggesting that you take the year to look for the best candidates." Hermione continued.

"If you can, have an outline of a typical correspondence course for the board members Friday. They'll want to see it." Augusta added.

"Dinner is served." Dobby popped in and they went to the kitchen.

**HP**

The next two days went by very fast for the quartet. Because the girls had decided to open on Saturday instead of Monday, everyone pitched in to get the store ready. On Thursday the girls conducted 6 interviews and hired 5. On Friday they interviewed 5 and hired 3. With the addition of Ang as manager and Katie as assistant manager, they had a total of 13 people besides Luna and Hermione on staff.

The three they hired on Wednesday, came in on Thursday to convert equipment. Out of the five hired Thursday, three stayed to help convert more equipment.

Fred saw how much they were buying and suggested they buy in bulk from the store or the manufacturers. So, Friday Angie arranged for the stores to start delivering loads of mobiles, tellies, VCRs, Nintendo 64's, computers, printers, kitchen mixers, toasters, vacuums, can openers, washers and driers, and dishwashers to the Madhouse for the time being.

Then she hired Dora to shrink the boxes, bring them to the shop and store them in the warehouse behind the lab. That in itself took Angie all day Friday—and the first shipment wouldn't arrive until the next Friday.

**Friday 26 June 1998**

Friday afternoon, after all the merchandise was put either on the floor or in the store warehouse, they decided they were done and there was nothing more to do.

"Okay, I think we're ready." Hermione announced at about 2.00 when everyone was gathering in the game room. "I don't think there is any more that we can do, so we should go home and rest up everyone. Tomorrow's going to be a big day. Please be here at half seven and we'll open at 8."

"When will we close?" Richard asked.

"Either at 6 or when we sell out." Ang said. "Brian's been selling out around four every day. I believe we have more stock now, so we'll see."

"Okay." Richard got up. "I'll see ya tomorrow." It took about twenty minutes but the quartet plus Sirius, Dora and Teddy floo'd home by half two.

HP

Instead of heading to the game room, like everyone else, Hermione said, "I'm going to go rest for an hour. I'll see you guys then." She kissed Harry and Ted and went to their room as everyone else went on.

"Did you check which Committees you're on?" Harry asked his godfather.

"Yeah. I got on the Creature Laws and Hiring Guidelines." He groaned.

"Gran got on all her three." Nev said. At the raised eyebrows, he explained. "I got a call from her earlier."

"Is Gran okay with the workload?" Harry asked.

"Yeah. She's only 78. She loves this stuff." Nev laughed as he took a shot.

"That woman will never give in." Sirius offered.

A little while later, Harry was playing with his godson, when he asked, "What do you think, little man, do you want to go swimming?" Teddy nodded and cooed at Harry. "Nev, Luna, want to go swimming?" He asked his friends.

"Sure." They said in unison and laughed.

"Okay. I'll get him into swim nappies and get my trunks on. Meet you out there." He got out of there before Dora could say no.

Less than 10 minutes later, he and Teddy were getting into the pool. He put Teddy in his inflatable seat and hooked him in. Harry started dunking himself and coming up on different sides of Teddy. They were both just laughing together as a big splash hit them. Harry turned around and there was Sirius as Padfoot.

"So you don't really enjoy swimming but you'll come in as Padfoot, do I have that right?" Harry rolled his eyes at the doggie nod. Padfoot grabbed one of the handles on Teddy's inflatable with his teeth and started to drag him around as Teddy laughed.

Soon, they were all in the pool, even Hermione, and were fighting over who got to play with Teddy. When Harry knew Teddy was safe, he started doing laps.

Eventually, Teddy got crabby and tired. Harry went over to take him from Nev. "Come here, little man, you need a nap. Let's go." He turned to everyone else. "It's 4.30, we should probably all get out soon and get ready for the Board Meeting."

HP

At 5.45, Minerva came through the floo. "Hello Minerva." Harry greeted as he helped her out of the floo. "Would you like to set up the study the way you need it?"

"Yes please. That would be very much appreciated." She returned as Harry took some of the piles of parchment she was carrying.

"You know, you should get a computer to help you run the school. It'd be much simpler than all this parchment." He commented.

"I'm at least buying a phone for every teacher on staff." She smiled. "I'm coming to MIT tomorrow." She transfigured the desks into one large table, conjured enough chairs for all, and arranged her notes.

By 6.05 all the Board members were there and they began. The inhabitants of the house left them to their work and went up to the game room.

"I wonder what they're talking about?" Hermione asked.

"I have no idea. Gran never tells me." Nev answered. "She does say that some of their discussions get extremely heated."

"She told me she thinks that's going to happen tonight." Sirius grinned.

Hermione kept going through the presentation they'd put together. She was walking around the room muttering to herself as she looked back and forth to the computer.

HP

Dinner was very polite and restrained. As each member had come out of the study, they looked really upset. However, Hermione noticed the polite masks they wore as they shared a meal. A lot of the conversation was about what they thought would happen in Wizengamot. As most of this group was made up of Heads of pureblood families, most were very concerned about the planned changes. However, three of the members were Gran, Lord Greengrass and Lady Bones.

Unfortunately for Harry and Hermione, the Headmistress took it upon herself to fill the Board in on some of their more interesting adventures such as Norbert, the troll, finding Neville in the body-bind curse—things like that.

Everyone got a good laugh out of the car verses the Whomping Willow story as well.

"You know, Daph has told me some of these stories but I was hard pressed to believe them before now." Silas remarked.

"Yeah Harry and Hermione tend towards trouble." Sirius smiled.

"We don't go looking for it!" Harry protested.

"No, you don't. It comes for you." Minerva laughed.

At the conclusion of dinner, everyone went into the study. Hermione handed out an outline of the changes they were suggesting to every board member. She went back to stand at the top of the table.

"Now, Minerva has made some changes to the curriculum that will impact the changes we are suggesting. She has hired a living, breathing History teacher" Hermione began as everyone laughed. They had all been put to sleep by Binns. "that will teach both Muggle and Magical History. With this done, we are suggesting getting rid of Muggle Studies entirely, as it is at least 70 years out of date, and bringing in a Wizarding and Muggle Culture and Etiquette class. This will be instituted next year with Andromeda Tonks, who has also lived in the muggle world, so she has practice in both, creating the curriculum and getting the Board's approval for it. This will be a required class like Charms or Transfiguration that everyone takes. We want to do it this way because we want muggleborn and purebloods alike to learn about the opposite culture. That way they can interact with both worlds and be less noticeable. It also gives muggleborns a chance at not offending anyone at the beginning of their school career by unknowingly offending magicals. Do you have any questions about this?"

"How much will it cost to institute?" Amelia asked.

"Well, there will be an initial outlay of 15000 G a year for salary. As Professor Tonks will be creating the curriculum and text as well, we believe the initial outlay for that will be 2000 G. So overall, this course will cost 17000G this year and 15 next."

All the members looked at each other. "We'll need to talk about this. Why don't we continue and then we'll discuss it after your presentation?" Silas asked. They nodded.

"So what's next?" Ms. Brown asked.

"Well, the next item has to do with school fitness." Nev began. "We feel there should be more sports than just Quidditch. Muggles have many different sports in school. We want to bring those to Hogwarts. We suggest having a Saturday where the sports are demonstrated by those who know how to play them. If there is enough interest in one, we can have house teams form. I personally know we have muggleborn or half-bloods that are aficionados of basketball, football, cricket and rugby. We'll have these people captain and coach the first years' teams and choose someone to hand the badge over to the following year. Once we have enough players, the Head's can choose the captain like they do for Quidditch. It won't cost anything except the refurbishment. We've arranged for the Chamber of Secrets to be refurbished into a swimming pool, basketball court and workout area. The money, 2 million galleons, will be put into an account by a donor that insists on anonymity."

"Who is this?"

"We can't just take someone's money."

"We need to know who would do this."

Nev looked at Harry while this was going on and he slightly shook his head no. "Sorry but this person does not want any more celebrity. He will not relent on this."

"How does he have so much money?"

"Let's just say that he did a favour for someone and they helped him profit from it."

"Ah. A deal with the goblins." Mr. Richards said. Nev remained stone faced although he was terrified they'd figured it out.

"I can have him bring the account information to Minerva tomorrow so you can see the money is ready if you wish." Nev prompted.

"Let's conditionally accept this on the theory the money's there and we can get the refurbishment done before the school year." Amelia suggested as everyone nodded in assent.

"What's next?" Ms. Carlyle asked.

"Muggle classes." Luna stood. "Most muggleborns stop their muggle education when they start Hogwarts. However, they realise after graduation that they can't get a job in the wizarding world because of the prejudices in hiring purebloods first. So they take another two to three years extra schooling before they can even get a low-paying job in the muggle world. They need a total of nearly 7 years to finish their university degree after Hogwarts. We suggest that both purebloods and muggleborn take muggle core classes while at Hogwarts. With a group of students who has had muggle and magical history, Wizarding and Muggle Culture class, and the core muggle classes, any student, pureblood or muggleborn, can choose which culture they want to live in."

"Why would any pureblood want to live with filthy muggles?" Ms. Carlyle asked nastily.

"Maybe to get away from the prejudiced society that turns out people like Voldemort and Malfoy. Or my personal favorite, my bloody cousin Bellatrix." Sirius snarled. "You're in a mainly muggle house right now." He laughed as he saw the shocked faces of some of the members. "Yes, I'm Lord Black and I live in a muggle city in a mainly muggle house."

"That's just a disgrace." Ms. Carlyle sneered.

"Your personal beliefs aside Ms. Carlyle, we will discuss this later" Minerva used her stern, Professor voice.

"What's next?" Mr. Richards grumbled. His was one of the two votes against the muggle courses.

Harry and Hermione stood. "There is nothing else. We thank you for implementing these plans that will help students at Hogwarts." Harry said formally.

Everyone got up to leave.

"Minerva, we'll be in the kitchen when you're done. Just come and get us please." Sirius nodded to his old Head of House.

HP

The four students and Sirius and Dora sat in the drawing room next to the entrance to the study. Sirius took out a few pairs of Extendable Ears and handed them around.

Hermione rolled her eyes and shook her head as she took hers. Everyone else just laughed as Harry smiled. "Only you Padfoot would think that far ahead to get enough for everyone." He smirked as he took his own.

HP

They heard Gran say "I think we should take each point and discuss them." She handed each member an outline of changes.

"I think you should recuse yourself Augusta." Mr. Richards suggested in a haughty tone. "After all, it is your heir that is proposing this."

"Fine." She looked irritated at the pompous windbag.

"So let's discuss each item one at a time." Minerva said as she looked at her sheet to give everyone time to take a breath and calm down. She was not looking forward to this debate. She had taught everyone on the Board from their first year at Hogwarts, so she could predict—without any divination training-how they would react. "Let's discuss the Wizarding and Muggle Etiquette class."

"As long as it's a Wizarding Etiquette class I have no problem." Mr. Richards said. "There's no way my pureblood grandson is going to learn about muggle culture."

"So we should allow a new Voldemort in by ignoring how we got into these wars in the first place." Augusta asked.

"If we don't start fostering a sense of inclusion and understanding of all people, magical and muggle, we may as well make muggle-baiting a class at Hogwarts." Amelia said sarcastically.

"Fine by me." Ms. Carlyle mumbled.

Unfortunately for her Minerva's ears worked just as sharply as her brain. She stood abruptly "How dare you Melissa!" Her normally sky-blue eyes flashed with anger. "That goes against everything a Hogwarts governor should stand for. How do you Mr. Roberts would feel about hearing that from you as he is muggleborn?" She said in her 'disciplinarian' voice.

"Yes ma'am." Ms. Carlyle nearly whimpered.

At the whimpered response, Nev and Harry slapped hands and grinned at each other. They then left the drawing room when that was only drama they heard.

HP

Minerva came into the kitchen about 45 minutes later with Augusta.

"Come back into the study." She invited as they got up and filed back into the study and took their seats.

"Well, we've come to a decision." Gran smiled. "We will provisionally accept the new class and do a trial run next school year. We decided to pay Mrs. Tonks her salary for this year as well and decided to give her a classroom and office to use at the school. That way she has a place to work on this."

The four teens showed their age as Harry and Nev said "Brilliant!" together and gave high fives. The rest of the room laughed.

"We also agreed on everything else, including the remodel and muggle classes." She smiled.

"What had Ms. Carlyle whimpering?" Sirius asked. "Mr. Roberts?"

Minerva smirked. "You—learn things- as a teacher. Things your students don't want you knowing. I find it useful to store these away for future use."

"How very-Slytherin of you." Sirius grinned as Minerva went rigid.

"Mr. Black, do I need to put you back in detention?" she lifted an eyebrow.

"No ma'am." He whispered grimacing as he had flashbacks of polishing trophies.

HP

The family went into the drawing room after Gran and Minerva left and sat down. "What's the time?" Luna asked

Nev looked at his watch. "10.30"

She groaned as she got to her feet. "I've got to go to bed. We should be at the store by 7 tomorrow."

"Yeah. Me too." Hermione concurred as she got up. Within 10 minutes, everyone was in their rooms.

As Hermione and Harry were doing their nightly routine, Hermione commented. "I hope it all goes well tomorrow. Fred explained how good the fact that we got a lot of people coming in to talk about what we were selling was but I'm still nervous."

Harry chuckled as he finished brushing his teeth. "You wouldn't be my Mione if you weren't."

She slapped his arm and laughed softly as she walked out of the bathroom. "Want to go outside and relax for a few?" Harry asked when they were in their bedclothes.

"Sure." She took his hand as they went outside as she curled up on his lap. She took a deep breath. "All we need is the smell of the ocean to put me right to sleep." She mumbled into his chest. They both just relaxed. They hadn't been out here in weeks. And Harry really was comfy. She rested her head on his chest and she promptly fell asleep. When he heard her cute little snores, he decided to put her in bed and go to sleep himself.

**Saturday 27 June 1998**

The next morning, Hermione woke up before Harry cuddled up to his side, her head resting on his chest as she listened to his heart. Boy, if she could wake up just like this every morning, she'd be extremely happy. She looked at the clock and realised if they wanted to get showers before Teddy woke up, she'd better wake her love up now.

She shook him. "Harry, love, wake up." She kissed him until he kissed her back. "Wake up love." She smiled down at him.

"No fair waking me up like that. Now I need a cold shower." He groaned as he got up. She just laughed.

As they traded places about 10 minutes later, Harry heard Teddy. "Bloody hell. I can't even get dressed." He grumbled as he went to pick Teddy up in his boxers. "Hi little man, let's go to my room and we can both get dressed." He whispered to Teddy.

They went back to Harry's bedroom where he got the both of them dressed and ready for the day. They then went down to the kitchen where everyone was nursing coffee or tea—even Dan and Emma.

"Hey Dan, Emma." He smiled as Emma held her hands out for Teddy. "Here ya go Emma." He handed his godson over before sitting down.

"So, it's 6.15 right now, we can floo over at 7 so we can make sure everything is alright." Luna let everyone know.

"We should have plenty of stock until at least Monday, so we probably don't have to worry about it till then." Hermione added, sighing. "I'm hoping we won't have to deal with the day-to-day drudgery after today so I'm hoping to help you two with your architect interviews next week.

"That would be nice." Harry smiled at his girlfriends

HP

At 7.00, everyone floo'd or apparated to MIT—except Dora, who floo'd Teddy to her mum's for the day.

As Hermione floo'd into the public floo at the back of the shop, she looked around. _Everything looks good, _she thoughtoptimistically_. Maybe things will go right today._

"Hi Hermione." Katie Bell, the Assistant Manager of the store, greeted her boss. She smiled. "Don't look so nervous. You look like you do before end of term exams. The too tired, anxious look isn't going to make this day go better. Relax."

By this point everybody was in the store, including Ang and Fred. Once the regular staff arrived, Angie started giving out assignments. Harry and Fred looked at each other and grimaced. She had _that tone_ in her voice. The one she used as Captain of their Quidditch team. It was the one that said 'do what I want, now or I'll hex you into oblivion.'

"Bloody hell! I forgot she had that tone." Fred whispered to Harry. He just nodded and smiled, thinking _Fred is brave to even think of interrupting when she's in this mood._

"Fredrick Fabian Weasley! Shut up while I am giving directions!" Angie looked like her eyes could kill. At least that was Harry's opinion. "Like I was saying, I went and bought more stock last night. So, Richard, Audrey and Amber, please go to the lab and convert the items. When you've finished that, please come help out in the front. I will start a rotation of lunch breaks at about 11. I know all of you are very familiar with the products, if you don't know the answer to a guest's questions please come to Hermione, Luna, Katie or myself and we will help." She smiled at her staff. She couldn't believe she had a staff. She'd always thought if Quidditch didn't work, she'd do something like this. She knew how important giving her staff room to grow was, her dad owned a software company himself, so she knew the importance of staff. "If you need us for anything, let me know. Now, I'm going to open the doors as there is a waiting crowd out there. Everyone ready?" At all the nods, she went to the doors with a bright smile. "Welcome everyone to MIT or Magically Innovative Technologies. That's a mouthful though so we call it MIT. Come on in. Look what electronic equipment you can now get in your home."

And in came a horde of people, mostly muggleborn or their parents seeking ways to communicate faster during the school year. The quartet could spot who was raised in a muggle house and who wasn't by the questions they asked and the expressions on their faces as they watched the tellies.

Minerva did come in and buy 15 new phones and computers for her staff. Other business owners thought the mobiles were a wonderful idea and bought them for their employees.

The owner of Twilfit and Tattings explained his purchase of mobiles by saying "If an employee needs to call in sick, he either floocalls, which means you have to be in the room to answer it, or he sends an owl which can take a while. With these, they can call me and let me know right away."

"That's exactly why I worked on the charms and runes! An owl takes too long from Hogwarts to London." Hermione replied.

It went on like this for everyone on the floor. Mums were eying the washer and dryer, vacuums and other appliances. They did sell many washers and driers that morning. However, the tellies were not selling. People were just staring at them in wonder.

The quartet and Sirius and Dora spent a good chunk of time explaining the telly to wizards but they just didn't seem to understand its significance. However, every student understood the boom box and Harry saw some of his classmates beg their parents for one.

At 11 employees started taking lunch breaks. After all the paid staff went on breaks, the quartet, Sirius, Dora and the Grangers went out to lunch to see whether the regular staff could handle everything on their own.

They decided to go to a more elegant restaurant further down the alley called The Golden Goblet.

They were eventually seated at a table. Sirius sighed. "It's nice to sit down after all that running around we did."

"Yeah. I'm exhausted." Dan leaned back in his chair as he looked at the menu. After everyone ordered, he said, "I didn't think the store would be that popular but it hasn't slowed down all morning and it doesn't look like it will."

"I hope not" Luna replied. "We do need more items to sell."

"I was thinking of Mrs. Weasley's kitchen." Harry said. "Remember those self-stirring spoons and the pots that fill themselves to the right amount of water?"

"Yes?" Hermione asked.

"What if we charmed spoons to do that so the person using it only has to say a starting incantation? Is that possible?" He responded.

"I think so." Luna said with what Nev called her 'thinking face'. "When I cook, I put a spell on those things I need constantly stirred but I do it each time. We'd have to research and see."

"We might be able to create a pan or something that won't let you turn out a bad meal or something like that." Hermione took the idea from Luna.

"Okay, okay." Sirius laughed. "Enough talk of that. We should be enjoying the fact the store seems to be a success—not how to expand, at least not today. You have a lab, you can experiment with these ideas—later."

Everyone but Luna and Hermione laughed at the twin looks of disappointment on their faces.

"Look at it this way girls." Sirius said. "When you come up with an idea, you can test it at the store first. There will be no need to start a new store."

Hermione and Luna both grinned. This had been a horrendous week of stress and insanity. They weren't doing it again anytime soon. Since they had all finished lunch, they had decided to go back to the shop.

When they walked in, it was controlled chaos. They had two people at registers and lines to the front door. Ang was at one of the registers. "Ang, do you still need us?" Luna asked. It was almost 4, they had two hours till the store closed.

"I don't think so." She cocked her head as though thinking things through. "Could Katie and I come over after closing to talk over some things with you?"

"Sure." Sirius agreed quickly. "We eat at 7, so that should give you enough time."

"We'll see you then." Ang smiled as the family floo'd away.


	15. Chapter 15

**Ch. 15**__

When everyone arrived home, they noticed Andi in the drawing room knitting.

"Mum, where's Teddy?" asked Dora.

"Upstairs. He wouldn't go down for his afternoon nap, so I brought him here. He went right to sleep." With the look of relief on Dora's face, she asked "What'd you think, I'd left him at home?" she laughed at the guilty look on her daughter's face. "So, how'd the day go?"

"Great." Luna said from her perch next to Nev. "By the time we left, it wasn't the franticness of the morning but an organised chaos."

"That's exactly how I viewed it too!" Hermione responded happily. "We left for lunch and by the time we got back everything was under control. We need another register though."

"And we came up with some ideas for new products at lunch." Luna was beaming.

Andi laughed. "Well, that's more for you to work on and you now don't have to open another store to sell them."

At everyone's instant laughter, Andi looked confused. Sirius answered the unspoken question. "I said the exact same thing Andi."

She smiled. "Great minds. . . I knew I liked you for some reason."

They continued talking about who they'd seen in the store. "Did you know Minerva came in to buy mobiles for all her staff?" Hermione asked.

"She said last night she wanted to." Sirius reminded her.

"Oh. How'd that go?" Andi asked. "Wasn't last night the Board meeting?"

Harry nodded. "We got all the changes passed. The only fight was the muggle classes being approved. That passed but two of them were against it. I really don't understand why"

"Don't tell me, Carlyle and Richards, right?" Andi inquired.

"How'd you know?" Nev asked

"I went to school with them. They're blood-purists all the way through. Not Voldemort supporters but they don't like muggles or muggleborns." She explained. "What about the class Dora wants me to teach?"

The quartet grinned, Luna said, "That got passed. They even agreed to your salary for this year because you'll be putting the class together. I think you also have an office at Hogwarts. You should get something from Minerva soon."

"Great. I'd like to get started soon." She smiled happily.

They heard the floochime then. Hermione jumped up and ran to the sitting room. "Hi Ang, Katie." She offered excitedly. "How'd the day go? Did you sell all the stock? Did we at least break even today? Will we make enough to pay everyone?"

Ang put her hands on Hermione's shoulders. "Calm down Hermione. We'll tell you everything." She laughed as they came back to the drawing room.

"Merlin, how can you ask so many questions without breathing?" Katie whispered, in awe of the girl's breathing ability.

"It's a talent she's had for as long as I've known her." Harry smiled.

"Dinner is served." Dobby pronounced. Everyone went to the kitchen table.

"So. Answers please." Hermione nearly demanded.

"Great. No. Yes. Yes." Ang recited the answers to Hermione's questions. At the exasperated look Ang was getting from Hermione, she continued. "It was great. Even when we closed, there were people saying they'd be back. We still have plenty of stock to last a little while. If things are as busy as they were today, I figure we'll need to get more stock by Wednesday. I'm ordering more for the Friday delivery."

"We are making a profit on each item and we're selling a lot, so I think we'll make payroll. It depends on how busy we are. If we do this kind of business for about a week, we can make all the initial investment back." Katie added.

They kept talking about the shop and what needed to happen tomorrow and how many employees they needed each day. It was a lot to go over but well worth it.

When dinner was done, so were they. Ang and Katie left soon after and everyone went up to the game room to relax.

"Want to watch a movie?" Nev asked.

"Sure, which one?" Harry returned.

"The Lion King." Luna and Hermione chorused loudly.

Sirius laughed. "Do you girls have a preference?" he asked sarcastically as Harry put it in. They watched it and the girls sang to all the songs. As Teddy had woken up a little before dinner, he was snuggled into Harry by the end of the movie. Of course, at the beginning, he had been handed around to everyone and cuddled for a bit. However, Harry eventually claimed him and they had cuddled most of the last half of the movie.

"I have to say, tellies are the most amazing inventions—muggle or magic." Nev said wonderingly.

"You've been fascinated since we watched Star Wars." Luna laughed as she cuddled into her boyfriend.

"Well, it's just so interesting. Who would've thought up such a detailed world, then managed to put it on screen—all without an ounce of magic?" Then he thought a moment. "That Lucas guy isn't a wizard, is he?" he looked inquiringly at Hermione.

"No." Mione laughed. "But if you guys like this, you're going to love Phantom of The Opera!" Hermione clapped her hands in excitement, noticing the wizards' and witches' confusion, she explained, "It's a musical that is playing in the West End right now. Mum and Dad took me to it a few years ago. I'll have them get everyone tickets. It's brilliant. It's all done without magic and is amazing." She took on a look of determination. "We'll see it before we go back to Hogwarts"

Sirius looked at Andi. "I guess we're seeing a musical."

"I've seen it and she's right, it is amazing. Count Ted and me in for tickets Hermione." She returned as Hermione grinned. "Oooooh! Teddy's asleep." She pointed to her grandson on his god dad's shoulder.

"Better put him in the nursery." The raven-haired father-figure smiled down at his boy as he got up. "Good thing he ate during the movie and was changed before. I wouldn't want to wake him for that."

"Never wake a sleeping baby." Dora, Sirius and Andi chorused as everybody laughed.

After Harry got back, the rest of the family stayed up talking about the shop, the orphanage and Wizengamot. They were all up until about 11, when Mione started yawning.

"It's been a long day." She commented. "I'm going to bed."

"Me too." Luna concurred as they both got up, kissed their men and went down to their rooms. About half an hour later, everyone else followed.

**Sunday 28 June 1998**

The next day, everyone slept in—even Teddy. Breakfast happened around 10 with the Grangers. "Hey Dan?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah?" they were sharing beers out on the stone patio while everyone else was in the pool.

"Why don't we go to a Crawly Town game sometime soon. I know we talked about it earlier but we've been busy." Padfoot laughed at the eager look on Dan's face.

"There's one this Saturday but it's not a home game." He replied.

"That's fine. We can take your car or apparate."

"We'll have to apparate. It's up in Newcastle." He grinned.

"Great. One other thing. Is it true that 18 is a big birthday in the muggle world?"

"Yup. It's when you become an adult. We tend to throw big bashes for it."

"Well, can you help me plan one for Harry? I know Lily would've if she'd been here."

"Sure. Why don't we talk to Em about it when she gets out of the pool?"

Sirius sighed. "Brilliant. I want to do it right. I've missed so much of his life, I just want to be the best godfather I can be."

"Sirius?" Dan looked him in the eye. "You're doing an amazing job. You may not have been there for him all the time but you're here now. That's important to him. Just the fact that you came to Australia for us was a big deal to him. He told me so."

Soon people started emptying the pool house and getting dressed for the regular family dinner.

HP

When family started arriving at around 2, the twins were the last to arrive. They both looked harassed.

"What's wrong boys?" Hermione asked.

"You wouldn't believe" Fred

"how hard it is to have the people" George

"running the new store across the Alley" Fred

"be your girlfriends." George

"We're in that store" Fred

"Almost more than ours!" they chorused.

"Sorry, but you offered to help." Hermione reminded them.

"Too true. Better remember not" George

"to help next time." Fred

Hermione laughed as they headed to the Pitch.

Everyone that wasn't playing was sitting at the tables near the pavilion talking.

"So, does anyone know how the orphanage is going?" Arthur asked.

"Harry made some calls this morning and set up some architect interviews for this week." Hermione responded.

"I think Nev was talking about just handing a phone to the one they choose so they could stay in touch easier." Luna added.

"That'd be good." Hermione said thoughtfully. "That way Harry's head doesn't feel like it's coming off his neck when he floocalls anyone. He hates magical travel." They laughed.

"So, Molly. What kind of things would you like to see in our store?" Luna asked.

"I don't care as long as I get a washer and dryer." She sighed, knowing they couldn't afford one. "Those just looked extremely handy. Right now, I wash clothes on a washboard with a spell and drip dry them. I can dry them magically but they tend to get crunchy when you do that."

Luna and Hermione looked at each other as everyone else talked around them. They nodded to each other. As everyone sat down to dinner, they pulled Arthur off to the side. "Arthur, when can we deliver a washer and dryer for Molly?" Hermione asked.

"We can—"

"We're giving it as a present for housing us all the times you have." Mione interrupted.

Arthur shook his head bemusedly. "I'm not going to be able to talk you out of this, am I?" he smiled.

"Nope." Luna answered definitively.

"Friday. I'll take her out to lunch. You better be there to explain yourselves." He shook his head as he walked to the table.

After dinner, they were sitting on the patio when the floo chimed. Sirius went in to answer it. He brought Kingsley back with him.

"Hi King." Harry got up to shake his hand

"Hi Harry. I've got some interesting news for you." He took a breath. "Greyback was caught." Hermione, who had been standing next to Harry, leaned on him more. Having almost been given to him by Bellatrix, she was very relieved about this.

"Amazing." Dora smiled. "The bloody bastard that bit my husband has been found!"

"Well, all of you that are on Wizengamot need to be there by 9, earlier if you want to talk to any allies." He smiled. "I will see you tomorrow. By the way, I was in the Alley today and there was a line out the door for MIT—good work Hermione, Luna." He then left.

Everyone then began talking over each other as they talked about Greyback. "Am I going to have to testify?" Hermione asked Harry.

"Probably." He looked at his girlfriend sitting on his lap. "Are you going to have trouble doing it?" He asked as he held her close.

"I don't think so but I'll have to recuse myself from the vote. I'm too close to it." She burrowed her face in his neck.

"That's fine love. I'll be there." He reminded her softly as he stroked her back.

**Monday 29 June 1998**

The next morning, everybody in the house had a nearly silent breakfast. It was when they had apparated to the ministry that Harry said, "At least we have an architect appointment to go to after this so we have something to look forward to."

"Yeah, a plain, boring meeting will be good for us." Nev smirked.

"And we're going to go check on the store." Luna added as they walked down to Courtroom 10.

They walked to the witness' area and sat down. It was a nightmare for everyone concerned. When Greyback was brought in, Hermione seemed to curl in on herself. It took them nearly an hour and a half to get to Hermione's testimony. When she talked about Bellatrix offering her to Greyback, Harry heard his godfather whisper, "I'm so glad Molly put her down for me. I couldn't live breathing the same air as that bitch."

Harry just humphed. By the time lunch came, the defence had rested. Sirius and Dora had recused themselves because of their ties with Greyback's victims, both Remus and Hermione.

At lunch, the family decided to go home. There, Andromeda was playing with Teddy on the floor of the drawing room.

"Hey Andi." Sirius sighed as he sat down.

Andi looked up from her grandson. "You okay Sirius?"

"No. I really want to be in Wizengamot right now deciding that bastard's fate." He growled.

"That's why you can't, love." She looked sympathetically. "He hurt two of the people you care most about in the world. That just wouldn't be fair."

"What he did isn't fair And. But yeah, I know." He sighed again. "They should be deciding his fate now."

"So, what do you have planned for this afternoon?" Andi asked, trying to get his mind off of Greyback.

"After three I'm going to go back to the ministry and see if I can round up some of my committee members so we can put together a schedule of meetings."

"Why after three?"

"Cause that's when they'll most likely be done with the trial." He responded as they walked into the kitchen for lunch.

After lunch everyone headed off in different directions. Andi to Hogwarts, Sirius to the Ministry, the men to Gringotts, the women to MIT.

When the girls came through the floo, they were overwhelmed by the noise. There was no noise from the actual equipment like the CD players or tellies, which they found odd, but the noise was from the number of people in the store.

"It looks like we might reach maximum occupancy soon." Luna whispered to Mione

"Yeah. It sure is crowded." They both grinned at that.

"Hey girls. How are you doing?" Ang smiled at them.

"Good. We just came to see how things were." Hermione filled her in.

"We're doing great. We had to put silencing charms around each table so you could only hear the item you were looking at. It was getting way too loud in here." She looked around the room. "You want to help out for a while, I can give more breaks at once then?"

"Sure. After all, the boys are at Gringotts right now." Hermione answered as she and Luna relieved two employees.

HP

Meanwhile, the boys were walking into Gringotts and being taken back to Ted's office by Swordback.

"So, how'd your weekend go Swordback?" Nev asked.

He got a funny look but Swordback answered. "Well. I spent time with my 2 year old son and 1 year old daughter."

"I didn't know you were a dad!" Harry exclaimed. "Congratulations, even if it is a bit late."

"Thank you." He returned as he opened the door.

"Hi boys!" Ted greeted them. "Come on in and have a seat. Venus should be here soon so we can go over strategy before the meeting."

"Will the meeting be in here?" Nev asked.

"No, it'll be in the next room." Ted replied as Venus came out of the fire. "Hello Venus." Ted smiled.

"Hello Ted, Neville, Harry." She nodded to each. They sat down at Ted's desk.

"So, let's talk strategy." Ted smiled shark-like.

So, they talked about the fact that they wanted the architects to show them what they envisioned before they brought in their own plans to see if the architect understood what they were going for.

At 2.30, Swordback let them know the architects were here. The boys left with Swordback leading the way. Ted and Venus were listening in but not there. Because of their age, they had to make sure Harry and Nev's decisions would be respected, so they didn't want someone who might be seen as a go between in the meeting.

Before he opened the door, Swordback said, "You will do fine. Don't get nervous, you're Lords Potter and Longbottom. You have dueled Voldemort and lived to tell the tale. You are great warriors, you can handle this. Don't let them mess you around."

Both men nodded as they put their shoulders back and stood as Gran had taught them. Swordback announced them. "Here are Lords Potter and Longbottom to see you." As they strode in, they saw a man in his fifties and a woman in her 20's. They both stood.

"Hello, my name is Akron Baylee and this is my daughter, and usually the face of Baylee Architecture, Ariana. For most everything, if you choose us, you will be dealing with Ariana." The older man said as they all shook hands and sat down.

"I am Harry Potter and this is my best friend Neville Longbottom." Harry introduced as the other three chuckled. Harry looked at Nev for an explanation.

"Do you really think you have to introduce yourself?" Nev smiled. Harry grinned sheepishly. Nev looked at the Baylees. "He never has been comfortable with his fame, so please just call him Harry."

"Well, Harry." Ariana began. "We know that you want to build an orphanage and I drew up some sketches last night. Would you like to look at them?"

"Yes please." He took the folder from her and opened the folder. The first drawing was a depiction of the outside. Just like he'd described to Akron, it was a beautiful, elongated White Tower.

"You talked a little with Dad about what you wanted but I was not on the call." Ariana said. "This was my best approximation."

"It's beautiful." Nev breathed as he turned the page.

"That is the main entrance hall. I'm also assuming that will be the apparition point." She smiled.

"It's grand and inviting." Harry mumbled. He looked at Nev and saw the same look of awe that must be on his face. "You know why this looks so comfy?"

"Yep. It looks like the entrance hall at the Estates." Nev smiled as he turned the page and saw a scaled down Great Hall. "Bloody Hell!" He looked up at Ariana. "What'd you do? Take pictures of the Great Hall and transfer them here?"

"No." she laughed, truly enjoying the wonder on the men's faces. That's why she did this work. "You mentioned how you thought of Hogwarts as home, so I took many elements from there."

They saw the kitchen below, the game room, the library—"Oh no" both boys groaned.

"Is there something wrong? I can fix it?"

"No. But the library is huge. If we fill it, we'll never see our girlfriends again." Nev and Harry laughed. "Did you see the new shop across from WWW?" Nev asked.

For an answer, both held up mobiles. "We got these today." Akron said.

"Well, our girlfriends worked out the runes and charms and started that store. They love experimenting and for that you need books." Harry groaned as the others laughed.

"Well, let's move on." Akron got them back to work. They spent the next few hours talking through ideas of how to mesh what the boys wanted and what was possible.

At five o'clock, everyone felt like they were done. The boys felt comfortable with the Baylee's and the Baylee's understood this wasn't just a flight of fancy for the young Lords.

"We have a few more interviews this week. We will let you know what we decide on Friday." Nev offered as they left the room and said goodbye.

The boys went back to Ted's office where Venus was. "What'd you guys think?" She grinned.

Harry plopped the portfolio down next to her. "It's brilliant and exactly what we want." Harry grinned as he sat down.

"It sounds like you got on well with them." Ted contributed.

"Yeah. We did. I would've said yes today if I didn't want to seem too eager." Nev replied.

"Let me take this home." Venus prompted. "Then we can talk about it tomorrow at our usual meeting."

"Okay." The boys agreed. "We'll see you at 10 tomorrow then." Harry confirmed as he stood up. Both boys gave her hugs before they left.

Harry looked at his brother. "Want to check on the shop before we leave the Alley?"

"Sure. Don't know whether the girls will be there though."

"Yeah but you know if they think we've been in the alley and not visited, they'll be hurt." Harry agreed. They walked to WWW and crossed the Alley to MIT. When they walked in, it was almost as busy as Saturday. They ran into Ang first. "Ang, have you seen Hermione and Luna?" Harry asked.

"Yeah." She said absentmindedly. "They just went home."

"Oh. Okay. How's the shop doing?"

"Good. Harry, I've got to go." She said as she walked off.

"Guess we should head home." Nev thought aloud. They left the store and apparated home.

HP

When they got home, they found the family in the game room. Sirius and Dora were playing darts while Mione and Luna were watching Teddy in the bouncer.

"Hey guys! How'd the interview go?" Mione asked as they sat down.

"Really well, actually." Harry answered. "They seemed to be thinking along the same lines we are and we love the drawings."

"So, you liked their designs?" Dora asked. She was friends with Ariana at school and recommended the Baylees to them.

"Yeah. They were grand and still homey." Nev added.

"Mum went to Hogwarts today to start on the class." Dora informed them.

"That's great. We need that class." Mione sighed.

"I just wish Remus had lived to see Greyback brought down." Dora whispered.

"Do we know the verdict?" Harry asked softly.

"Yes. The Veil." Sirius stated.

"When?"

"Tonight. Didn't want to give his friends any time to get him out."

"Good." Nev agreed. Putting a hand on Dora's forearm, he said, "Remus did see that, Dora. I believe that. And I know he'd be proud of you and how you're raising Teddy."

Dora put down the darts and hugged Neville. "Thank you, Nev." She said as she choked back tears. Then more arms wrapped around them.

"It's okay to cry Dora. I miss him too." Sirius' eyes were wet, remembering how Moony tried so hard to deny Dora. "He loved you so much. Sometimes, I'm amazed you got through that thick skull of his." Soon the whole family was comforting her. They were standing in the middle of the room in one giant group hug.

Fortunately, Sirius had to crack. "You know, Moony'd be quite upset knowing we were all standing here crying over him." He grinned as he sat down. He summoned a butterbeer for everyone. "He'd want us to celebrate."

"He would but I don't know if I can." Dora sighed. "I went to Godric's Hollow today and set up the Christening for Teddy for the 12th. We talked about it. Although his mum was muggle, she was still a practicing Catholic and raised Remus that way. So, he wanted Teddy Christened" She looked at Harry. "You were Christened in the same church. Having to set that up was nearly as hard as the funeral."

"Why didn't you let me go? I am his Godfather. You shouldn't have been alone Dora!" Harry couldn't believe she would exclude him from helping plan this milestone in Teddy's life.

"It was fine Harry. You were busy and it needed doing." Dora smiled ruefully.

"I would've changed my schedule for Teddy!" He replied harshly. "I will not be left out of these kinds of decisions. Do you understand that Dora? I am his godfather and I will act the part!" He was so irritated he stood up. "I didn't have my godfather or Godmother, Teddy will know his! Do you understand?"

Dora got up and took his hands. "I understand. I'm sorry Harry; I didn't think you'd want to be involved. I won't make that mistake again, yeah?" She looked into his eyes and saw the anger receding but not the hurt. "He loves you, you know?" and there was the smile Dora was after.

"And I love him, more than almost anyone." He replied quietly as he took a deep breath to calm down. They both sat down and Harry noticed everyone staring at him. "What?"

"Nothing mate," Nev said.

"You know, the Christening is going to call for a party—and a big one at that." Sirius grinned mischievously.

"Oh bugger!" Dora exclaimed. Then she had an idea. "You can do the party Sirius but only with Mione being the final decision-maker."

"You don't trust me?" He asked hurtfully.

"NO" shouted the rest of the family.

"Fine." Sirius huffed like the man-child he was at times.

"I'll keep him in line Dora." Mione giggled at the affronted look on his face.

Harry was thoughtful. "Dora, would you like Teddy to use my Christening outfit? I think I remember seeing it in my vault."

"That would be great Harry. I need to go buy one if not."

"Don't worry, I'll get it." Harry smiled thinking at least he was doing _something_ for the Christening.

They spent the rest of the evening just being a family. Whether it was Sirius and Harry gloating over beating Dora and Nev at pool or telling stories of their years at Hogwarts, everyone was relaxing and having a good time just being family.

Eventually, talk came back to the orphanage and its appendages. "You know, Nev, we ought to hand the initial vetting of the heads of Departments in the orphanage and the Heads of the Dairy and Nursery over to Venus." Harry suggested.

"Well, I have someone in mind for the Nursery Head. He taught me everything I knew until I went to Hogwarts. His name is Dirk Frisbie. But we should probably put out some feelers for more applicants." He grinned. "Dirk is amazing at Herbology. But yeah Venus should do the initial vetting."

"We've got to remember to bring our computers tomorrow." Harry sighed. "We should also print off the list of positions so she'll see what we're talking about." He frowned.

"What's wrong Harry?" Dora asked.

"Just thinking." He paused. "I'd really like to get the Heads of these different enterprises hired before school starts."

"I'd like to get it built before then too; we need for these orphans to have a home before winter." Nev worried. "I just hope the Baylees were right and they can build it in a month."

"That's fast." Hermione commented.

"Things move much faster in the magical world for this sort of thing; at least from what the Baylees were saying." Harry replied.

Soon, it was half nine and Harry decided to put Teddy down for the night. After getting him sorted, Harry and Hermione went off to bed.

"So are you and Luna going to start researching longer lasting charms for kitchen equipment tomorrow?" He asked Hermione.

"I think so. We're also planning on adapting a few board games to work with magic."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, like Monopoly. Maybe we can give it a magical bank rather than a physical one."

"Sounds interesting." He said thoughtfully as he stripped to his boxers. "Come to think of it, why don't muggleborns bring board games to Hogwarts. I mean there's Chess and Gobstones but not much else."

"That's what Luna and I were thinking but we're thinking about instead of streets in London or New York, they could be wizarding sites. Instead of the traditional three streets, we could have three wizarding places to a country. If you get all three from one country, you have the monopoly. For instance, for England we could have Hogsmeade, Diagon Alley and Hogwarts. You see?" She asked as she got into bed.

He laughed and grabbed her to cuddle with. "Sounds good. You've got lots of ideas, just see what you can make happen." He kissed her softly. "I love you Mione and I can't imagine my life without you."

"Me neither love." She found a comfortable spot to sleep on his chest. "And you are ever so comfortable to sleep on." She smiled and kissed his chest as he laughed.

"Glad to know I'm good for something." He laughed.

HP

The next morning Harry woke up with his godson but because no one had to be up early, he decided to take Teddy into their bed and try to get more sleep. Soon, he had Teddy sleeping on his chest and Mione cuddled up to his side and all he could think was _This is how life should be: kids, and loved ones safe and happy._

Before he knew it, he felt his wi—girlfriend stir. _Where the hell did wife come from?_ He asked himself. He looked over to see Mione tossing the blankets away.

"Time to get up?" He enquired.

"It's half eight. If you have to be there at 10, you've got to get up too lazybones." She smiled as he got up and put Teddy in the Moses Basket they'd kept in their room.

Soon, all three were ready to go to the kitchen for breakfast. When they got there, the family was sitting at the table talking.

"Well good morning sleepyheads." Sirius greeted the pair as Dobby started putting food on the table.

"Did Teddy even get up like usual this morning?" Dora asked, taking her son.

"Yeah but we decided to have a lie-in since we don't have to be at Gringotts till 10. And yes, he ate at six." Harry answered.

They ate breakfast and the boys left for Gringotts while the girls left for Flourishes and Sirius went to the ministry for his committee meeting.

When Nev and Harry got there, Trainee Swordback was waiting to bring them to Ted's office. This was strange because they usually let themselves into Ted's office.

"What's going on Swordback?"

"Nothing." He grinned without showing his teeth. He looked at these wizards who had actually become friends. "Only the fact that my wife is pregnant again."

"That's great!" Both boys were happy for their friend. In the little over a month they'd known Swordback, he had asked them to call him by his first name not his title and had seen pictures of his kids as they swapped stories of what it's like for a human family verses a goblin family. They had actually become good friends with him.

"This will be number 3 right?" Harry asked.

"Yes."

"How many children is average for a goblin family?" Nev inquires.

"Four although Hallback and I are thinking six or seven." At the dumbstruck looks on his friends' faces, he laughed.

"Is Hallback okay with that number? One is tough enough but 7-that's a full Quidditch team!" Harry squeaked. Nev and Swordback laughed.

"She suggested that many." Swordback chuckled as they walked into Ted's office.

At the looks on the boys' faces, Ted said "I see you've told them how many kids you want Swordback." Ted laughed.

"Ted? He wants a full Quidditch team of kids. He's blooming crazy!"

"Yes, he is. Now let's get started." They sat at the table with Venus and nailed down a tentative hiring schedule. They decided to hire an architect by Friday, a contractor by the next Friday and have groundbreaking the following week.

"Is that schedule even possible?" Harry asked.

"I don't see why not." Venus said. "When my parents built their place, it worked that fast. If everything goes to plan, we should have it built by the middle of August." She looked a little concerned. "Do they not work this fast in the muggle world?"

"No, they don't. It takes multiple months to build one house." Harry responded thoughtfully. "That means we need to hire heads of departments soon. Can you whittle down the list for us?" He got out his computer and they went over who they'd need to hire. Venus also decided she'd bring the boys in on the final candidates for each position. Apparently, she'd already started the process of advertising for the positions. "I knew that there was a reason we went with you." Harry laughed at the stern-Professor look Venus was using. "You're so much like your Aunt. You think 2 steps ahead of everyone else. You know what's needed and just do it."

"If we look at your list of positions to live on campus, we need to provide housing for a potential number of 17 families—all of different sizes. Some of our employees may want to live on campus and bring their family with them. Are you going to have a problem with that?"

"No. Not at all. I want this to be their home too." Harry answered quickly.

"Some of these folks, like the head of the nursery and the head of the dairy farm will have their own places and would probably prefer to stay there." Venus continued.

"I know Dirk, if we hire him, will want to live at his place with Helen." Nev concurred.

"Since the school is going to be in the main building, I suggest we have a small apartment for every school grade teacher next to their classroom like Aunt Minnie has at Hogwarts. After that, I'd like myself, my Deputy, Head of Dining, Head of Dormitories, Head Librarian, Head of Discipline, Head of Nursery, Head of Hospital, Headmistress of the school, and Head of Primary and Secondary schools to each have their own flats. Physically, they can be rather small because we can put on expansion charms and such." Venus was pointing to each of the titles on Harry's computer. "Does that make sense?"

Nev and Harry looked at each other, they looked thunderstruck. "I think you broke them Venus." Ted laughed.

"Boys, does that make sense?" Venus laughed as she repeated herself.

Nev was the first one to grasp the enormity of what they were doing. "We're responsible for all those incomes." He breathed.

"Yes but I'll use my resources from Hufflepuff House to help bring in donations. This is a big project but it will work." She said with McGonagall steel in her voice.

"Then we best get hiring." Harry smiled. "What do you think Nev? We are brought in for the top 4 candidates on each position?"

"That's fine for everyone else but I want to run the Plant Nursery Head interviews myself. I'm running with this. I'll talk to Sprout about who the best candidates are. She should be able to help."

As Nev talked, his eyes got a brightness to them that Harry only saw one other time—when he was looking at Luna. That's how he knew Nev loved Luna in the first place. Harry loved to see Nev happy like this.

"So, in other words, you're not going to just hire anybody—you're hiring the best." Harry grinned.

"It's going to have our mothers' names on it. Of course." They both laughed.

"Ted, can we use that conference room we used yesterday to do the architect and contractor interviews in?" Harry asked.

"Are you boys okay doing the architect interviews tomorrow by yourselves? I'd like to get started on the hiring." Venus queried.

"Could you be here for the first one at 9, then you can leave?" Harry asked.

"Of course. Again, the question I keep coming to when dealing with you is: How can you possibly be nervous about meeting new people when you killed Voldemort?" She laughed.

"That was a life and death thing; I didn't think about it. This is planned and I have plenty of time to worry." Harry smiled.

"I will reserve the conference room for tomorrow and Thursday." Ted got them back on track.

They talked through what they wanted for qualifications for each job. Pretty soon, the three had a full list of what each job would entail and what type of person they wanted in that role. The three worked really well together and came to a consensus about everything. Soon it was noon and they decided to quit for lunch, promising to get back after the first meeting tomorrow.

The boys floo'd home.

HP

The family was already sitting down at the table when they got to the kitchen.

"Hey boys. Nice to see you." Pads greeted sarcastically. "We were going to start without you."

"Well, thanks for waiting." Harry replied as he leaned over and gave Mione a hug. "How was your morning love?"

"Wonderful. We went to the Burrow and talked to Molly about helping us come up with some charms for kitchen tools." She smiled. "Anything we build with her help, she'll get profit from the patent."

"That's wonderful." Nev smiled at the two inventors. "You know, now that you're inventors, maybe you should ask Minerva for an unused classroom while you're there this year."

HP

That afternoon, the boys chaired the second awards committee meeting. They decided that everyone who fought at the Battle of Hogwarts deserved at least a third-class Order of Merlin. This took a lot of wrangling by the young men and it was exhausting but they got what they wanted.

To Harry's surprise, it was Neville talking about the fact that Dumbledore's Army held out in the RoR for nearly two months that got the older politicians to see their point. Every one of those that fought were brave—no matter their age—and deserved to be recognised for it.

When they had decided this, they decided they'd leave 2nd class until next Tuesday. The boys then went to Children Services Department and asked them to put a list together of all the orphans in the country and their ages. Because they had been warned by King, they said it'd be ready Friday. Apparently, they were already working on it. The boys went home content.

32


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N Thought I'd put up one more chapter as a Happy Christmas to all of you who read and review. You're a godsend. Thank you so much for your help and advice.**

**Ch. 16 **

**Wednesday 1 July 1998**

The next morning, Teddy and his godfather got up early. This was good for Harry though as he and his best mate had to be at Gringotts before nine. While Harry was feeding his godson, he was talking to him about the next few weeks. "I don't know Ted. It looks like I won't be around much in the next few weeks but I promise you that we will have every morning together, okay kiddo?" Since Ted was drinking, he didn't make a sound. Harry sighed. "I'm trying to make this world a better place for you but I don't know how we're doing. Hopefully, having a good place for the orphans to live will help and Sirius will be leading the fight in Wizengamot. I just feel I've got to get as much done as I can before school starts."

They went downstairs and Harry made breakfast. At the table, Harry asked, "So, what are you and Luna planning today, Mione?"

"We're going to Flourish & Blott's to look for help with extending the life of a charm." She smiled excitedly.

"So, research." Sirius looked sad. "It's summer, girls, haven't you done enough research? Shouldn't you play a little?"

"This is what we consider fun. Just because we've got our heads in books, doesn't mean we aren't enjoying each other's company." Luna explained.

"So, you actually talk and act like teens while you're out?" Sirius inquired.

"Yes, Uncle Sirius. Don't worry about us." Mione smiled. She knew Sirius thought they were working too hard.

"I suggest, since Dan and I are going to a game Saturday, you four do something fun together." Sirius responded.

"Yeah. Let's go to that Westminster place you were talking about Hermione." Nev offered excitedly.

"Sure. That sounds fun." Luna agreed.

"Okay." Hermione smiled. She'd turn them into historians yet.

"Well, we've got to go. The first meeting is in 20 minutes." Harry said as he got up.

HP

They apparated to right outside of Gringotts and nodded to the guards that let them in. They then wound their way back to Ted's office. When Swordback opened the door, they saw Venus already there.

"Good. Glad to see you got here on time." Venus smiled.

"Yeah. Who are we interviewing first?" Harry asked.

"Alcott Architecture." Ted provided. "They are a pair of brothers that have been doing this for about 10 years."

"Are they big enough to handle our job?" Nev inquired.

"Yes. They work with some of the biggest contractors in the country."

Swordback came in. "The Alcott's are in the conference room."

Harry looked at Nev with determination. "Let's get this over with."

They followed Swordback in. As he announced them, the Alcott's just sat there, their feet on the table. Being put off a bit, didn't most people stand and shake the prospective employers' hands? Harry said a little harshly, "Hello. Are you the Alcott's?"

"Of course, we are." The one on the left said as though he expected to be recognised.

"Then why are you sitting with your feet on the table?" 'Lord Longbottom' came out to play. At the tone in Nev's voice, one put his feet down and stood up.

"Are you the owners of the firm?" Harry asked, irritated at having his time wasted.

"Our father is, why do you ask?"

"Just wanted to know who to tell about your atrocious manners." Harry said as he got up and left the room.

As Nev got up they heard "Wait just a minute, you didn't even look at our plans?" in a whiny voice.

"We don't work with people like you, people without manners." Nev replied haughtily. "You may leave."

When Nev got back to Ted's office, Harry was already floocalling Mr. Alcott. He could hear Harry's heated voice. The words boorish, uncivilized, unkempt and rude were all mentioned. Nev couldn't help grinning. If anything, being around Gran had helped Harry's vocabulary.

"I presume it didn't go well?" Ted asked.

"Are you listening to Harry's tone?" Nev asked incredulously.

"It sounds like they weren't professional." Ted laughed at the look on his face.

"Ya, just a little. Didn't bother to get up to shake our hands. Feet on the table. Whining."

Harry finally came to sit next to him. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. When he finally calmed down, he asked, "Why did their manners drive me crazy? Bad manners never mattered before—I was friends with Ron for 7 years—so why now?"

"Maybe it's the company you keep. You're used to better manners now that you've been exposed to Wizengamot member?" Nev pondered.

At that, Harry brightened, "Yeah that's got to be it."

"Should we head out to the Alley now? The next interview isn't until 2." Nev prompted.

"Yeah." He looked over at Ted and Venus. "We'll see you around 2." The boys walked out of Gringotts and went towards WWW and MIT. WWW was busy like it always was. MIT still had a line out the door.

"Boy are the girls going to be pleased with the profits this week." Nev whistled. "It opened five days ago and still has a line out the door."

"Harry! Nev!" They heard from behind them. Turning around, their faces brightened—it was the loves of their lives running towards them. As the girls launched themselves, the boys braced for impact.

"Hey Mione."

"Hey Luna." The boys responded together.

"Why are you guys here?" Luna asked.

"The first interview was a dud." Harry replied. At the questioning looks, he continued. "The representatives had Ron's manners. I wasn't going to work with them, so we sent them away." He shrugged.

"He even called their boss and told him off using what Gran calls 'big-boy words'." Nev laughed.

"Let's go home; I want to see Teddy." Harry turned on the spot and apparated home. He went into the kitchen and saw Dobby working. "Hey Dobby, do you know where Teddy is?"

"In the game room Harry Potter Sir." He smiled as Harry went upstairs. When he got there, Dora was sitting there with a blond woman her own age dressed in Auror robes.

"Hi Dora. Where's—There he is!" Harry said as he spied his godson in his bouncer. He picked the little man up. "Hey little one. How're you this morning?" He asked as Teddy grinned and put his hand out to touch Harry's face. He pulled at the stubble Harry kept on his cheek. "You like playing with that, don't you?" he snuggled his godson. "You are such a good boy Teddy."

"So, did he even say hi to you Dora?" He heard Nev ask.

"I did! I just found Teddy right after that." Harry returned simply. "I have my priorities right." This got the group laughing as Harry sat down with the little baby.

Dora just laughed. "Merlin help the person that gets between him and Teddy."

He looked over at the young woman and held out his hand. "Hi, I'm Harry Potter and this little man is my godson." He introduced himself.

"Hi, I'm Brianna." She replied.

"Are you American?"

"Yeah. My mum's American and we've lived there most of my life. I came here a year ago because they were desperate for Aurors."

"Well, welcome to Britain." Harry offered.

"Thanks. I like it here and my folks are thinking of moving back. My mum is a muggle healer, so she has to take some exams to work here but they should be here by Yule." Brianna informed them.

"Hello, hello, hello!" came from the entrance hall.

"And that is Cousin Sirius." Dora groaned.

"Up here!" Mione called as they heard boots on the stairs.

As Sirius came into the room, he blanched at Brianna. He strode over to her, knelt down and kissed her hand. "Hello beautiful." He looked into her eyes.

"Sirius!" Dora snapped. "Stop that right now!"

Sirius looked over at Dora. "What? I call 'em like I see them. And your friend is beautiful." He smiled charmingly at the newbie who blushed a scarlet red. "And what might your name be?"

"Brianna" she replied in a strangled voice.

"Down mutt!" Harry tried to demand through his giggles. He could see why girls flocked to him in school.

Sirius looked over at his godson. "Just because you have your life partner, doesn't mean we all do."

He sat close to Brianna. "Are you staying for lunch?" He asked.

"Yes. I'm off today and thought I'd visit Dora and Teddy."

"Lunch is served." Dobby popped in and popped out. They all went down to the kitchen.

"So, the Aurors are saying you might be joining us Harry, at least when you're done with school." Brianna prompted.

"Bloody Hell no!" He looked at her shocked face and laughed. "I thought I might want to in 5th year but I'm done fighting bad guys. I may be teaching DADA but I won't be going after the idiots myself."

"That's too bad." They talked more generally about her job, the girls' shop, Wizengamot and the orphanage.

Soon though it was time to go back to Gringotts.

HP

The boys got back to Gringotts in plenty of time to get ready for their meeting. This one went better than this morning but that wasn't saying much. The architects were professional and had good ideas but both Nev and Harry got the feeling that they would be difficult to work with. They said they exclusively worked with one contractor and would work with no one else. They were just too rigid for the boys, so they sent the pair off with a maybe.

After they saw them out, the boys went to Ted's office. "So, what'd you think?" Venus asked.

"Way too rigid." Nev began.

"I just felt they wouldn't do what we asked them to." Harry concurred.

"Those were my thoughts too." Venus contributed. "Well, it seems, so far the Baylees are going to win the bid." She laughed.

"Well, we have two more tomorrow." Harry observed.

"Alright. It's five o'clock and you two probably want to get home to my grandson; so, we will see you tomorrow at 8.45, okay?" Ted commented.

"Yeah. If I can pull myself away from him." Harry smirked as Ted and Venus laughed.

"You think he's joking, don't you?" Nev confirmed when they nodded. "He's not. He has the hardest time saying goodbye to the little man, it's kind of funny." Harry just stuck out his tongue and turned to leave.

"I'm seeing Teddy!" He called behind him as the other three laughed.

HP

When the boys got home, Dora was just coming down with Teddy. As she handed him off to Harry, he asked, "Is Brianna still here?"

"No but she wants an invite to family dinner Sunday." Dora laughed. "She's got it bad for the mutt."

"That'd be great." Harry joined in the laughter as they headed up to the game room.

She turned on the music as Nev racked the balls and took the first shot. "So, how did this afternoon's meeting go?" Dora asked.

"Not as bad as this morning but not as well as yesterday." Harry informed her. "They were just too rigid for our taste."

"Well, it's good you know that before hiring."

"S'ppose" Harry mumbled as he took a shot. Soon the girls came home from the Burrow and plopped down on the couch.

"Hey, Mione. You look tired. Can I help?" Harry asked sitting next to her.

"No." Mione sighed. "Molly is just sometimes—too energetic."

"I can imagine. I can also imagine that having only Ginny at home doesn't help." He chuckled.

"She's a big help though." Luna supplied. "She knows an awful lot about charming things to work for long periods."

"We timed her spelled spoon for 3 hours nonstop." Mione added.

HP

The next morning, the young men strode into Gringotts at 8.45 ready for their first appointment. They checked in with Ted and Venus before they took their seats at the conference table. Swordback brought in the representatives from Durham Architecture.

Harry and Nev got up and shook the couple's hands. "Hello, I am Harry Potter and this is my associate Neville Longbottom." He introduced them

The man said. "I am Bruce Durham and this is my wife Helene." Everyone sat down.

"I find it interesting that out of the four firms we've talked to, three are family run. Do you know why?" Harry inquired.

"I think art runs in families and art is a big part of what we do." Helene answered. "Our daughter is currently at Hogwarts and is planning on apprenticing with us when she gets out."

"Oh. What year is she?"

"Fifth."

"Interesting." Harry took a breath. "Well, what do you have for us?" They were shown lots of plans that were very similar to the Baylees. They really put work into the overall atmosphere, not just one area.

"Look at this Harry." Nev showed him a drawing of the game room after looking at all the drawings for an hour or two. "Look familiar?" He laughed.

Harry looked. "Oh Merlin! That could be our game room!"

"Excuse me." Bruce interrupted. "What do you mean by that?" He looked a little nervous.

"We have a game room at home that looks an awful lot like this. You even have the Quidditch posters my godfather added to the room." Harry laughed.

"Oh. Well, I guess we are on the same page then." Helene added.

"Yeah. I think we are." Harry smiled. "We have to take these drawings and look them over with the Head of Operations, so we'll have to get back to you. It will probably be tomorrow or Monday."

They shook hands and said their farewells before leading the Durhams out of the conference rooms. Nev and Harry then joined Ted and Venus.

"These are great drawings and nearly as good as the Baylees." Harry said as Venus took a look.

"Oh, I like my office. It's big." Venus commented. "Do you think you can work with them?"

Nev and Harry looked at each other and seemed to come to an understanding that Ted and Venus weren't privy to. "I think so." Nev sighed. "Damn, I hope this afternoon's appointment isn't as good. Then we'll have three we need to choose from."

Ted laughed. "Isn't every appointment supposed to be good?"

"Not when you have to choose who gets the job." Harry groaned. "This is hard." He mock-whined.

Venus just looked at him. But she had the same look on her face her aunt had right before the sorting. The 'behave or else' look.

"Okay, Venus stop that look. It's scary." Harry said.

"Then stop whining young man." Both boys simultaneously looked over their shoulders to see if the Professor was there. When they looked back, she burst out laughing.

"Not funny Venus. Stop channeling your aunt." Harry complained.

"But it's _fun_!" Venus laughed. She had so much fun channeling her aunt in front of these boys. Maybe it's because she's their Head of House that they are so cowed. Anyway, she loved it!

"Okay. We are going now. See you at 2." Nev stated as they left.

HP

They were really lucky. Neither boy nor Venus liked the afternoon appointment. They were thinking more of housing children rather than giving them a home; therefore, everything was very minimalistic in nature.

Their design plans were based more on St. Mary's than Hufflepuff House. Since both boys really wanted to stay away from the institutional look, they decided—even before talking to Venus—that they didn't want to use these plans.

After they had said goodbye to the architects, Nev and Harry went back to Ted's office. They sat down and looked at Venus.

"What do you think?" Harry asked the all-important question.

"Well, I think either the Baylee's or the Durham's would make good architects for what we want."

"Well, duh Venus." Nev snorted. "But which one? That is the current question." he grumbled as he brought out both portfolios.

They sat there looking at each portfolio very carefully, weighing the pros and cons of each.

"What it comes down to is who we think can manage this better, I think." Harry summed up about an hour later. "All three of us like the designs equally, we like the architects equally but the Baylees just seem to understand what we're looking for better." He looked around the table and got nods from Venus and Nev. "I think we should go with Baylee Architecture then." He closed the portfolio. "Is everyone agreed?"

"Yes." They both confirmed.

Nev and Harry looked at each other and grinned, reminding Ted of the grins Sirius and James used to share at times. According to Andi, the boys had known each other casually for seven years but were never friends. However, they had become best friends in the last 2 months—and it showed. They even seemed to think alike now. Ted just shook his head in wonder. These boys were going to change the world.

"Okay. That's brilliant." Harry looked at his watch. "I'll call Akron tomorrow morning and let him know. I'll ask him for a list of contractors he usually works with and we can set up those for next week. We should have contractors by the end of the week. Venus, have you started the hiring we need done?"

"Yes. I should have the Headmistress candidates for you by the end of next week." She smiled as she saw the young men relax.

"Good." Nev smiled. "I want to make sure we've hired everyone before we have to think about Hogwarts."

HP

When everyone was finally home for the evening, they congregated up in the game room.

"How'd your work go today Mione? Did you check on the shop?" Harry asked his girlfriend as she sat down next to him.

"Yeah. We went into the shop this morning and saw everything was okay. The deliveries are going to be made here tomorrow because they can't be delivered directly to the shop—Statute of Secrecy and all." Mione answered. "Dora will shrink them and floo them to MIT once they all arrive. We're using the garage as a temporary warehouse. We are going to the Burrow tomorrow and see how Molly does laundry." Luna and she grinned at each other.

"Do you have ideas on how to channel the magical energy to make it work?" Nev asked.

"We do. We just don't know if any will work." Luna answered.

"You two are too smart for your own good." Dora sighed shaking her head.

Sirius jumped up. "Oh my! I forgot." He exclaimed as he ran downstairs. Harry just started laughing at his godfather's weird reaction which started everyone else off.

"I wonder what he thought was so important?" Mione asked as they stopped laughing a few minutes later. Suddenly, they heard Sirius' boots clomping quickly up the stairs. When he got to the game room, he was panting. He flopped next to Hermione and dropped five old, worn notebooks on her lap.

"I found these in an old trunk. I don't know why I didn't remember this when you started converting things but Lily used to talk about bringing the wizarding world into sync with the muggle one but I never realised it went as far as it did." He finally stopped panting "I found these journals of hers and Remus' in an old trunk belonging to Jamie. When we moved out of Grimmauld, I brought a few trunks here that I knew had things from your parents, Harry. I thought I'd go through them and give them to you. I found those about three weeks ago and keep forgetting to give them to you. I think they should be helpful."

Hermione had been flipping through the pages since they were dropped on her lap. As Sirius finished talking, Harry looked over at her. "What's wrong love. You look agitated." To tell the truth, his Mione looked royally pissed off but Harry felt it better for his health not to say that.

Mione looked up at Sirius. "You mean to tell me you've had these since we got back from Australia but just didn't look at them, is that right?"

"Uh, yeah. That's what I said." He looked confused as he looked into her stormy eyes. _Padfoot's going to get it_, Harry thought mirthfully, recognising the signs of a Mione Meltdown.

"YOU KEPT THIS FROM US WHEN YOU KNEW WHAT WE WERE DOING?" Hermione stood up, glaring down at Sirius with her arms akimbo.

Sirius looked even more bewildered. "Yes. I had no idea what's inside those though."

"Only the answers to most of the problems we had with fixing the electronics! If we had had this it wouldn't have taken nearly as long." Hermione growled brandishing the notebook. "It looks like Lily had a few more answers we've been searching the bookstore for. And this thing is annotated as to where she got the information." She slapped him, much lighter than Harry would've guessed, on his shoulder and sat back down-away from him-as she went through the notebooks with Luna.

Sirius looked at Harry. "What just happened?"

Harry laughed at the mixture of sadness and confusion on his godfather's face. "You kept knowledge she needed from her. Don't be surprised if she doesn't talk to you until tomorrow."

A few minutes later, the girls looked at each other. "We need the patent office tomorrow." Hermione said.

"Why?" Nev asked.

"Because we have the solution to our current problem. Lily has created charms that will replace all the electronics in an appliance. Instead of needing to buy muggle appliances and convert them, we can have someone build the washer, for instance without any electronics—only the mechanisms- and charm them to work like their muggle equivalents." Luna answered. "Does your Gran have business contacts in the magical manufacturing sector?"

"Of course. Gran has contacts in every sector." Nev snorted. "And I know for a fact, she'll be more than willing to use her bullying prowess to help you two out."

"Bullying prowess?" Sirius tried to stop a chuckle but couldn't.

"What else would you call her ability to get exactly what she wants from everyone—even the most haughtily, stubborn, blood purist purebloods?"

"Stubbornness." Sirius paused. "Fearsomeness"

Nev shrugged. "You say to-may-toe, I say to-mah-toe." That got everyone laughing.

Dobby popped in and called the family to dinner. When they got down there, Hermione, who usually sits between Sirius and Harry, sat next to Nev across the table.

"She's still mad, isn't she?" Sirius asked his godson.

"Yes. Don't try talking to her now. Try tomorrow morning." He advised.

"I can't wait to give the washer and drier to Molly tomorrow." Luna said excitedly. "She's been such a help to us. Especially on what appliances housewives would want in their house. I think we should take her to Harrod's to look at their kitchen section. What do you think Hermione?"

"I think we need to buy her some proper clothes if we're going to do that." Hermione laughed. "She may get along fine in this world with her fashion but not the muggle world."

"Point taken." Luna laughed.

HP

When Harry woke up the next morning, Hermione was cuddled up to his side. Since he didn't have any appointments this morning, he decided to relax until Teddy woke him.

"You know," Mione said sleepily. "It's almost Teddy's third-month birthday. Should we have a party?"

"Yeah. That's a great idea love." He leaned down and kissed her. "We could even make it a surprise for Dora. What do you think?"

"Sounds good." She smiled as she pushed her hair out of her eyes.

"Might want to drop by the Aurors' office to ask Brianna who Dora's friends are so we can invite them. I'm a little concerned that Remus' death has pushed her away from her friends. She seems to only spend time with family or Brianna." Harry worried.

"Yeah. I know. Luckily Brianna's been here a few times or I would really worry." She kissed her lover. "I love you Harry."

"I love you too Mione." He said as he cuddled her closer.

"You are so warm. I can see spending the rest of my life cuddled like this." She snuggled closer.

"You can?" He asked excitedly.

"Can't you?" She asked warily.

"Yes. I picture us married and carrying you across the threshold of that four-bedroom out back. Soon."

"Why not the three-bedroom?" She asked curiously. She saw them in the bigger house too but wanted to know his reasoning.

"I want at least three kids, maybe 6 if my bride is willing?" He asked.

She was ecstatic—the same reason! "More than willing my love, as long as the pregnancies aren't hard." She looked at Harry and recognised the content look on his face. Her heart swelled with all she was feeling for him.

Sometimes, when Luna and she were getting so involved in their experiments, she tended to forget how glad she was to have such a loving boyfriend. But then there were days like this, when they were just enjoying each other's company, that she was so grateful that he truly understood her.

She looked at her watch. "Why isn't Teddy up yet? It's seven, doesn't he usually get up around six?"

"Yeah. I better go check." He reluctantly left the bed and pulled on pajamas. He headed upstairs when he heard Teddy whine from his wand. As he walked in the nursery, he saw Teddy wiggling around. "Hey little man." Harry whispered. Teddy stopped wiggling and looked from side to side. When he saw his godfather, he cooed happily and stretched his arms out for pick up. "Come on sweet boy. We'll get you changed and fed, then we can go fix breakfast for everyone."

When Harry and Teddy went to the kitchen, he sat in the bouncer as Harry went through the ritual of making breakfast. Since they now had a CD player in the kitchen, Harry and Teddy were listening to music as they cooked.

Soon, everyone was down in the kitchen eating breakfast. "So, are you girls going to the Burrow today to work on those charms?" Sirius asked.

"Yes. We have to figure out which charms work on what." Hermione responded.

"Well, that's good. And the first delivery is happening today." Dora put in. "Ang called yesterday and said PC World confirmed for 10.00 delivery and Appliance World will be here at 2.00. I'll be bringing everything to the shop after the drop off."

"Okay." Hermione agreed. "We need to go to the Burrow to see the steps Molly uses to do her laundry. Luna, you ready?"

"Yeah. What are you boys doing this morning?" she asked.

"I've got to call the Baylee's and see if they can offer up any contractors. I also want to go to the bookstore to see if I can get any books on management techniques." Harry responded.

"Why don't you boys bring lunch to the Burrow and we can set up the washer and dryer and eat before Arthur brings Molly home? All the kids that can are going to be there at 1.15 to see Molly's reaction. Fred and George are betting she'll faint." Hermione laughed.

"We can do that." Harry looked to Dobby, "Can you make us a lunch basket?"

"Of course, Harry Potter Sir." He bounced happily.

"I'll bring Teddy with me too."

HP

After the girls left for the Burrow and Sirius left for his committee meeting, Nev and Harry went into the study. They sat at their two desks.

Harry took out his mobile, dialed the number Akron gave him and put it on speakerphone. "Hello, Baylee Architects."

"Hi Akron. It's Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom. How are you today?"

"Good. What can I do for you?"

"Well, we'd like to talk to you sir." Nev said.

"Well then, I'm here to listen." He returned jovially.

"We wanted to let you know that we decided to go with your designs." Harry informed him.

"Well, thank you." They could hear the smile in his voice.

"I was wondering if we could get together today to go over expectations, possible contractors, timelines and such." Harry inquired.

"Of course. Would you like for us to come to you?" He asked.

"That would be wonderful. How about 10.00? The address is The Madhouse." Nev responded.

"The Madhouse?"

"Yeah. My Aunt named it when she made the floo address." Harry laughed. "It is apt though."

Akron just laughed. "Okay. We'll see you at 10." He said as they hung up.

"Better tell Venus. See if she wants in on this meeting." Nev chuckled as he dialed her number. Harry went pale thinking of the -disapproving- look both she and her Aunt could do when they're irritated.

"Right. Best call her now. I completely forgot her in the equation."

"Yeah. Not good to do with that family." Nev smiled as he talked to Venus. A few minutes later, he said, "She'll be here in a few."

"Come in!" Harry yelled at the knock on the door. Dora came in with Teddy.

"Hey can I leave this guy with you? I have a delivery at 10 and I don't want him hurt while they are unloading." She pleaded.

"Of course." Harry got up to take his godson. "Hi sweetie. Accio bouncer." He pointed his wand and saw the bouncer fly into the room. Teddy started giggling when he saw it coming. "You like that, do you?" At Teddy's giggle, he said, "Accio mobile" and his mobile came from the desk to his non-wand hand. Teddy just kept laughing.

"Okay, that's enough." Dora laughed. "You don't want to summon the whole house to you to satisfy a baby, do you?"

Harry paused in contemplation. "I don't see why not." He shrugged. "Accio-"

"Accio Harry's wand" Dora said as Harry's wand left his hand.

"Not funny Dora." He growled as he stalked over and took his wand.

"Then stop spoiling the child." Dora retorted as she left the room.

"Your mummy's mean." Harry whispered conspiratorially.

"I heard that!" Dora yelled.

"Let's rearrange these desks." Nev suggested. Currently the desks made a T with Harry and Sirius' desks making the long leg of the T and Nev's making up the short leg.

"You want to separate them into their own spaces?" Harry asked.

"I'm thinking we push Sirius' off toward the sitting area and put ours facing each other. Then we can clean them off and use our desks as a table when needed."

"Sounds good. It's not like you ever go back to Longbottom Estates to use the office there anyway." Harry laughed.

"That'll always be Gran's not mine." Nev laughed too. "Besides, we're doing so much together, it's a waste for me to live there." He answered as they levitated the desks around to their proper places.


	17. Chapter 17

**Ch. 17**

**A/N I'm hoping I will be with my niece tomorrow, so I thought I'd publish this chapter early. R and R please. Merry New Year.**

**Friday 3 July 1998**

"Hello ladies." Molly greeted the girls from in the kitchen as Mione and Luna floo'd in.

"Hi Molly." Both returned as they strode into the scullery. They saw she had a steel cylinder about half a meter high and a third a meter across out. She was filling it with the aguamenti charm. "Does that have clothes in it?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, but only a few." She replied.

"Why is it not bigger?"

"Well, I've never really thought about getting a bigger one. This is the standard size you buy in Diagon Alley."

"So, everyone uses this size?"

"Yes."

"Would you like one bigger?"

"Of course." She put in some detergent, put the lid on it and spelled it to start washing. Molly went to the kitchen to put some tea on.

"Could you tell me the process you use for washing clothes and what charms you use?" Hermione asked with a dicta-quill at the ready. Molly brought the tea over.

"After I've begun the process, like you just saw, I will have to reapply the charm _pura vestis _every 10 minutes.I've learned each load takes about 30 minutes. Then I banish the tub's water using depulso, scourgify and refill it. After I refill it, I put the clothes back in and set it to rinse with the same charm I use for washing but without detergent. Then I put each piece of clothing through the wringer—the actual wringing is done through spell work, _constringo vestis_ but I have to move each piece of clothing, either by hand or by levitation. Then I either line dry or use the drying charm."

"That is a lot of spell work to do in one hour or so." Hermione commented.

She laughed. "That's why I only did one load a day when Arthur and I got married. It took me a year or two to do a few loads without getting tired—at least magically tired."

HP

At 10.00 on the dot, the floo chimed and the boys got up to receive their guests, Teddy in Harry's arms.

"Hello Akron, Ariana." Harry welcomed.

"Hello Harry, Neville." Akron said as he turned around to help his daughter clean off.

"Please come this way." Harry began leading them to the study as the floo chimed again.

"I'll get that." Nev said as he went back to the sitting room.

"That's the head of the Orphanage." Harry answered the unasked question as they walked into the study and sat around the two desks. "She wasn't in our first meeting because we wanted to see if the interviewees could deal with two 18-year olds as equals."

"Oh. I guess that's understandable." Ariana chuckled. "That's why dad comes on the interviews with me—even if I'm the one designing the building. They want to see the experience on my dad's face rather than my youth."

"Yeah. Something like that." Nev said as he brought Venus in. Greetings were eventually finished and they got down to business.

For the next hour and a half, they agreed that Ariana would play the main go-between with the contractors. They agreed to contact three different contractors to get bids. These were long-established companies that they'd worked with or had good reputations.

They had decided that Ariana would schedule the interviews for next week and send them copies of the drawings for them to base their bids on.

"I'll schedule them for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings. Do you want them here or at Gringotts?" She asked.

"Gringotts. Once we've decided, then we can meet with them here. I want to keep this place for people we know." Harry answered.

"Paranoid much?" Nev teased.

"You try having a Dark Lord after you your entire life and tell me I'm paranoid?" Harry shook his head. "No. I'm protective."

Nev hmphed as Akron got up. "Ariana will call you when we get things set up. Is that alright?"

"Of course." Nev replied as he led them to the floo and said goodbye to both the Baylees and Venus. Then he looked at his watch. "We should head to the Burrow soon."

"Yeah. Let's get changed and go." Harry started upstairs to change into muggle clothes. When he came back down to the entry hall, Nev, Dora, Teddy and Sirius were there. Sirius was carrying a large picnic basket. He shrunk it down and put it in his pocket.

"Hey there Prongslet, ready to go?"

"Sure Sirius. But should we pick up the machines first?"

Sirius pulled out his mobile and asked Hermione. After hanging up, Sirius replied. "She says that'd be helpful. Apparently, Molly has already left."

"Okay, Dora why don't you take Ted over to the Burrow, we'll get the washer and dryer, yeah?"

"Sure Harry. See ya!" she yelled as she floo'd out.

"Let's go." Harry floo'd to MIT. "Hey Ang!" he yelled as Nev and Pads floo'd in.

"Yeah, what?" She yelled back from the register. Harry came up to her.

"We're here to get the washer and dryer for Molly." He let her know.

"Sure." She smiled. "Wish I could be there but we're swamped."

"Yeah, well you have responsibilities now." Harry grinned as they went into the back warehouse. They went through the game room, to the extensive warehouse. "Okay, where would Hermione put them." He muttered to himself as he headed towards the back. When he found them, he pulled out a washer and dryer and had Sirius shrink them. "Okay. Back to the Burrow, yeah?" He asked the others.

"Yup." Nev agreed. They then took the floo to the Burrow.

"Hey Nev." Hermione said as he came through the floo. "Where are the machines?"

"In Sirius' pocket." He laughed as Harry and Sirius came through. Sirius pulled out the food and began setting it up while Nev and Harry helped Hermione set up the washer and dryer. It actually took a little time because they had to move things around to fit both the washer and the dryer into the scullery.

"This is so much easier than doing it the muggle way." Harry smiled at their finished work.

"Yeah. I bet. Without the levitation charm, we'd have to move it by hand." Nev groaned as they came out of the scullery. Everyone sat down to eat their lunch.

"So, how'd your time with Molly go?" Harry asked the girls.

"Well." Hermione paused. "We got a lot of interesting information on how most witches do their laundry. Just to let you know, I'm never doing laundry that way."

Harry laughed at the disgusted look on his love's face. "That bad, yeah?"

"Yep. It would take me days to do the laundry the way she does. To get the wash done, she has to reset the charms twice to keep the clothes moving. Then she hand wrings them and rinses them in the same tub. It's crazy." Hermione just shook her head

"That's how I did it before moving to the Madhouse." Dora contributed.

"And isn't the laundry much easier now?" Hermione demanded.

"Yes, it is. Especially with all of Teddy's clothes" Dora smiled.

HP

About half an hour later, they had cleaned up their lunch and were just sitting at the table when Bill and Fleur floo'd in.

"Hey Fleur!" Hermione reached out and gave her a hug. Over the next 20 minutes, George, Fred and Ron (who was currently working at WWW) floo'd in. So did Percy and Audrey and Ginny.

"What are you doing here Potter?" Ron spat venomously.

George and Fred simultaneously slapped him on the back of the head. "None of that"

"Dear brother or you go back to work" Fred finished. Harry just shook his head sadly at his ex-friend.

"Here to buy off my mum Harry?" He spat again.

"Enough of that Ronald." Bill said as he came closer to the group. Harry realised that Bill was pissed off. "You say one more thing and I'll body-bind you and put you upstairs, do you hear me?" He prompted in a very cold, steady voice.

"Fine." Ron huffed as he went to sit in the drawing room. A few moments later, Molly and Arthur came through the floo.

"Hello Ronald, why are you home so early?" Molly asked.

"Just came back for a sandwich." He returned as he got up and they headed to the kitchen.

"Surprise!" Everyone yelled as Hermione took Molly's hand as she clutched her chest at the noise.

"Oh my! Why are you all home? Are you staying for dinner?" She asked.

"No Mum. Patience. All will be explained." Bill nodded to Hermione

"Come with me Molly." Hermione said as she grabbed Molly's hand and walked to the scullery.

"Oh my! Oh my! Merlin! Is that the washer and dryer from your store?" she asked Hermione.

"Yes. You can do much bigger loads and you don't have to stay around for the next cycle. You can put the washer on, leave for Diagon Alley for an hour, come back and put the clothes in the dryer." Hermione elaborated.

"How much does it cost?" Molly started looking in her money bag.

Luna grabbed both hands and looked in her eyes. "Hermione and I are giving this to you because you've been so good to all of us. I may not have come over a lot after mum died but I have fond memories of this place and you. You've been a big part of our lives. This is a thank you."

With this, Molly burst into tears and she grabbed each one of 'her kids' and gave them her patented hug. "Okay mu-u-um. I n-n-eed to brea-the." Bill strangled out as everyone laughed at his predicament.

"Oh! I'm so sorry dear." She let go of her eldest. "Thank you all." She looked at her new machines. "I can put three loads in one of these machines. How do you use it though?" She looked at the kids.

"Don't worry Mum. Ang taught me how to use them last night. She has one in her apartment." Ginny volunteered.

"Okay. The three of us" Fred

"have to leave." George

"Come on Ron." Fred finished as they floo'd out.

"Yes. We have to get back to Gringotts." Bill contributed. Soon everyone, including Harry and Hermione left Molly and Arthur with their new gadget.

"Did you know about this Arthur?" She asked as she gathered clothes.

"Yes." He smiled." They told me last weekend."

She laughed. "After 30 years, you can still surprise me." She said as she stopped to reach up and give him a kiss. "I love you."

**HP**

The next day, Harry was woken up by his Teddy Alarm. As he was wandering upstairs to the nursery, he mused on the fact that while at Hogwarts he never got up before seven. Now, here he was _voluntarily_ getting up at before six o'clock to get a baby ready for the day—just so his aunt could have an extra hour of sleep.

He mentally chuckled. He would have never gotten up voluntarily for his blood aunt, but for his adopted aunt, yup. Anything for Aunt Dora. Although he'd _never_ called her that—partly because he knew he'd get teased endlessly- that is how he thought of her.

"Hi little man." He greeted his cooing godson as he walked into the room. "How are you today? We're going to go to London and visit Westminster Abbey today. Don't worry, it won't be the only time. Aunt Mione and I will take you when you're a little older. She loves history, so I'm sure we'll go to lots of places while you're little. There, you're dressed! Now on to feeding." He declared as he sat in the rocker and picked up the bottle. "Thanks Dobby." He grinned down at Teddy as he gulped his breakfast. "I don't know what we'd do without Dobby."

Soon, Teddy was fed and burped and they were on their way to his room so Harry could get dressed. After that they went to the kitchen where Dobby was working and Dora was drinking her coffee _very_ slowly.

"So, are you and Teddy coming to Westminster with us?" Harry asked.

"Why do you think I'm drinking coffee rather than tea?" she growled as Harry put his godson in the bouncer. "My idea of early has changed since I got pregnant, you know?"

"Yeah, I was just thinking that I would've never gotten up this early at Hogwarts. Just didn't happen. Now, however, I freak out if he doesn't wake me up by six." They both laughed.

"I totally agree." Mione came in the room. "I could never get you boys up before seven. The only person that could was Oliver. It used to completely annoy me."

The floo chimed and they heard "Hello, Hello." From Dan, very jovially and too much like Sirius.

As Dan and Emma came into the kitchen, Mione groaned. "Dad, you did not learn that from Sirius." At the mischievous look on her father's face, she looked to her mum. "Mum, please tell me he's not turning into a Sirius clone! We don't need two of them." She groaned as her mum grinned.

"Hello, Hello!" They heard Sirius yell from the entrance hall as he bound into the kitchen and slapped Dan on the back. He was dressed in jeans and a Crawley jersey.

"There's your answer honey. They're turning into clones—of each other! You should see him with patients. You know how your dad has always been a little reserved with patients?" At Mione's nod, she continued. "He's talking their ears off. And guess what his favorite topic is? You my dear." She laughed at the sour look on her daughter's face. "He talks about you almost as much as Sirius talks about Harry. It's actually funny. He's so much more outgoing, I can't believe you haven't noticed."

"I've been a little busy Mum." She shook her head.

"So, when do we leave Dan?" Sirius asked when they sat down to breakfast.

"We've got to be there by eleven, so you need to figure that out." Dan grinned. Emma really did enjoy this new Dan.

"After this, we're leaving for Westminster Abbey." Luna jumped in as she looked at her best friend. "I expect a trip to Waterstone's afterwards." The other five that were going just laughed.

"Yes ma'am!" Harry saluted.

After breakfast, Dora gathered "Teddy's stuff" and the six were about to leave.

"Have fun kids." Sirius smiled at his real family.

"We will! Don't get arrested, Dan!" Emma grinned back as Mione apparated Harry and a moment later they were back. Harry took Nev and Luna, Mione took Dora and her mum.

"Well, they're gone. Now we can have fun!" Sirius grinned at Dan and they high-fived.

HP

When they all had gotten their bearings, Emma still got fairly dizzy during apparition, they got tickets and went into the Great West Door. "Wow. This place is huge." Nev whispered.

"Yeah." Luna was looking down. "Who was Winston Churchill?" She asked as she looked at a slab of stone dedicated to him.

"He was Britain's Prime Minister during World War II or the War of Grindelwald as we know it." Hermione went into lecture mode as she talked about WW II as they walked to Elizabeth I's monument in the Lady's Chapel. "This is interesting. Elizabeth I, Mary I, Henry VII and his wife Elizabeth and Mary Queen of Scots are all buried here."

"But they all hated each other!" Harry exclaimed, having started reading some of the books about Tudor history they'd bought at Waterstone's. The Tudors reminded him of his aunt Petunia's shows-everything complicated and everyone sleeping with one another.

"Why do you say that?" Dora asked.

"Well, Henry VII was the first Tudor monarch and grandfather to both Mary and Elizabeth, so he and his wife make sense. However, if I understand right, Mary I was his son Henry VIII's first daughter with his first wife Katherine but he divorced Katherine and made Mary illegitimate when his second wife gave birth to Elizabeth. Am I right?" Mione nodded proudly. "But then he threw Elizabeth's mum over for someone else who gave him a son. Then when the son and Harry had both died and Mary became Queen, she put Elizabeth in the tower because she was afraid Elizabeth would take her throne. I didn't understand why though. So them in the same Chapel makes no sense. Then Mary Queen of Scots was killed by Elizabeth, so why's she here?" He took a breath.

"Oh Harry!" Mione reached over and gave him a Mione hug. But he could feel her crying.

"Why are you crying love? Did I get something wrong?"

"Oh no! I just can't believe you learned all that!" Mione stopped crying but was sniffling.

"Why not? The Tudors are bloody fascinating."

"Language Harry." She admonished after she got control. "You must have read one of the books we bought."

"Yeah. I haven't finished it but it's a good read." They continued to look around, letting Mione teach them some history.

It was when Neville began asking intelligent questions of Hermione that Dora leaned over to Emma and whispered, "She'll make an excellent history teacher. I'm so glad she'll be teaching by the time Teddy's at Hogwarts."

Emma laughed. "When she came home first year and told me how boring History of Magic was, you could see the disappointment on her face. Before Hogwarts, we got her all sorts of books from Diagon Alley. Most of those were history books. I think she'd memorized Hogwarts A History—"

"She had!" Harry interrupted laughingly.

"The history of a culture gives you a greater understanding of that culture. Thus, I learned about a culture I had never encountered before!" Mione defended herself. "I was coming in with no knowledge, so I decided to immerse myself by studying history."

"I know, love. And you knew much more on the first day than most purebloods." Harry took her hand. "I love you."

"I love you too." They walked over to Sir Isaac Newton's tomb and Mione started lecturing about his contributions to science.

Around two o'clock, everyone had gone through the main building and still there was more to look at. They had looked into every nook and cranny of that building. They'd been to Poet's Corner, The Cloisters, Royal Tombs, basically anything that was open. Hermione had tailored the visit so they wouldn't get bored. Really, she could walk around Westminster and never get tired. However, she had not made history nerds out of all of them and could see they were flagging.

"Why don't we go to eat then Waterstone's then home?" Hermione suggested.

"But we haven't seen everything." Nev replied.

"No. But to see everything you need a few days. We can come back some other time." She smiled brightly, glad he didn't want to leave.

"Fine but I want to come back before Hogwarts."

"I'll make sure Nev, even if it's just us." Hermione was so happy it seemed to radiate off her as they left.

"You are even more beautiful when you're excited like this. How on earth did I not know you liked history this much?" Harry asked as they walked to the underground.

"You closed down every time I tried to talk to you about it. I think because of Binns." She sighed as they sat down on the train.

"Well, Binns is a menace." Luna added

"But he was always good for a nap." Nev reminded his girlfriend. At the cold stare Hermione was giving him, Dora and Emma laughed.

When they got to Waterstone's, the crowd split up. Dora and Teddy went to the kids' section, Nev and Luna to the business section, Harry and Hermione to the History section, and Emma to the mystery section. About an hour later, everyone came together near the Information Booth.

"Everyone ready to leave?" Hermione asked.

"Yes." Came the chorus as they headed to check out. Simply Harry and Hermione's 15 books were over £400. The others bought a lot more.

"Emma, do you have a monthly book budget? Every time we come here, you seem to spend about £500." Dora asked.

"Yeah." Emma laughed. "Dan always says that it's a good thing we are dentists just so he can keep me in books."

"I remember I came home after fourth year and Dad told me they'd made their last payment on their student loans the previous month. When I asked how much mum had spent at the bookstore as a treat, he just roared out laughing." Hermione paused. "He never did answer me though." Everyone snickered as they went to an alley and apparated home.

As they apparated into the Madhouse, they all heard a bunch of laughter from upstairs. Harry looked down at his watch and saw that it was four o'clock, looked down at his sleeping godson and whispered to Dora, "I'm putting him in his cot. Go see what Sirius and Dan have broken. That much laughter cannot be good." and headed for the nursery.

After putting Teddy down, he went up to the game room where he stood at the top of the stairs and found an obviously inebriated Sirius and Dan giggling as Dan tried to throw a dart and missed by at least a meter.

"Daddy!" Hermione yelled as she came up the stairs behind Harry, pushed him aside and ran to her dad as she wrestled the darts away from her father.

Harry looked into the sitting area and saw Emma, Dora, Nev and Luna just sitting there. Walking over, he asked. "Why didn't you try to get the darts away from them Emma?"

"Because it's such fun watching Hermione react to this. Watch." She insisted, pulling him down.

He looked over and saw Hermione look pityingly at Sirius and her father. She sighed. It wasn't worth yelling over. "Dobby?"

He popped in with two hangover potions. "How'd you know I'd need 2 of these?"

"Because Master Dogfather and Mister Dan came in very loudly a few minutes before you." He replied as he sat on a conjured stool.

"Thanks Dobby." She smiled at the elf as she walked over to her father. "Father, drink this." She handed him the potion and he drank it meekly.

"Sirius, here." She said with more force and disappointment in her voice as she gave him the vial. He drank it.

"Woooow! I'm not drunk anymore but boy does my head hurt." Dan sat next to his wife.

"Why'd you kill our being drunk Mione? It was fun." Sirius came up to her to put an arm around her as she ducked out of the way.

"Because, I don't deal with drunkards." She sat with Harry.

"Dobby, can you get us some pain relievers?" Sirius asked as Dobby snapped his fingers and gave each a vial.

"Why didn't you hand them out with the hangover potion?" Harry asked.

"I wanted to see if he'ds ask." Dobby smiled. "If he didn't ask, he doesn't deserve it."

"What I want to know" Harry tried to change the subject, "is how it is Teddy can sleep through apparition?"

"That kid can sleep through almost anything. I don't know how he does it but he does." Dora laughed.

"So I take it Crawley won?" Emma asked.

"Yup." Dan and Sirius chorused, laughing.

"Did you guys take Arthur and Xeno with you?"

"Yup." Sirius grinned. "Arthur is really a lot of fun if you get him away from Molly. We went to the pub afterwards and he couldn't stop marveling at the game."

"I think Xeno's going to write about it in the Quibbler this week." Dan added.

"Apparently, Molly's been doing all the laundry in the house since yesterday. She's been to Shell Cottage, the twins' shop and Percy's place to collect laundry and do it at home in her new washer. She's also been to the Rookery." Sirius laughed. "Xeno thought it was so funny that he just let her at it. Arthur thinks you've turned her into a monster."

HP

After dinner, Hermione suggested they play Monopoly. It started out with Hermione and Dan against Nev and Sirius. Then it switched around. Soon, Dan and Hermione were forbidden to play in the same game because they got too competitive.

So, they conjured a second board. Harry, Dan, Emma and Luna played one game. Hermione, Nev, Sirius and Dora played another.

Harry found it very peaceful, even if it was loud. He had his family in one room, doing things any regular family would do. Of course, anyone could tell they were enjoying it by the amount of laughter heard.

"You know, we really need to put more space up in the game room." Sirius suggested. "I mean, there's no room for a game table."

"Yeah. When we moved in, we thought it'd be a room for the teens but we all spend time up there." Dora agreed. She looked at a kitchen clock. "Oh my! It's after ten, where's Teddy?" She looked around the kitchen.

"He's asleep. I put him down there a little while ago." Harry smiled at the terrified look on her face.

She relaxed. "Thanks Harry." She paused. "I think it's bedtime for me then." She groaned as she got up from the table. "Can you guys clean up?"

"I will clean up if you're all done with the game." Dobby said firmly.

"Okay, good night all." Dora answered as she stood and left.

Sirius took Harry and Hermione in a hug. "I'm really going to miss these times when you go to school." He whispered as he let them go.

"We'll miss it too." Hermione replied as she gave her mum and dad kisses as they left.

HP

The next day was a lazy Sunday. Harry had gotten Teddy out of his cot and gone back to his bed to sleep. When he woke up around nine, he was laying on his back with Teddy curled on his stomach and Mione cuddled up next to him. They ended up finally going downstairs at around ten.

When they walked into the kitchen, everyone was already at the table. "Hey sleepyheads." Sirius called. "Decided to get up, did you?"

"Yeah." Harry groaned as he sat Teddy at the table.

"Not very talkative, are you?" Dan asked

"Nope." He answered as he hunkered down at the table and started to eat. Soon, he started to perk up.

"Why are you so tired love?" Mione asked.

"I stayed up reading that book about Henry VIII last night. I finished it." He smiled. "I don't think I came to bed until 3 or 4. Then I got Teddy up at six and we came back to bed."

"Merlin, we should meet up next time in the game room!" Nev exclaimed. "I was up till three reading as well. But Luna woke me up at eight."

"Do you want to start a herbology section in our library, Nev?" He asked.

"Sounds good. I can see about bringing some of my books over here since I've basically moved here." He laughed.

"How many subjects are in our library now Mione?" Harry looked at his girlfriend.

She counted them out in her head. "I think we've got 10 categories with something like 400 books. I've been trying to find a way to organise it but it's hard to do."

"Have you looked in the journals I gave you?" Sirius asked. "One of the constant topics between Lily and Remus was how to organise a library in a more easily accessible fashion. Her favorite place in Hogwarts was the library—like someone else I know—but she always complained you had to go to Madam Pince if you wanted something odd because there was no way to look it up on your own. Even in hiding, I remember her working on ideas with Remus. You should look in their journals if you want ideas."

Hermione smiled. "I think I'll do that."

After breakfast they all separated. Hermione and Luna went to the library to look through journals. Nev went back to Longbottom Estates. Harry and Teddy went out to the grass to play. Sirius, Dan and Emma sat out on the terrace drinking beer.


	18. Chapter 18

**Ch. 18**

**Sunday 5 July 1998**

That afternoon, everyone came to the Madhouse for dinner. However, while everyone was off on the pitch, the adults were talking by the pavilion.

"So, Andi. I hear you are putting together a class about wizarding and muggle culture?" Emma asked.

"Yes. We got permission for it, now it's up to me to decide what to teach. Have any ideas?" She returned the question.

"Well, what about literature of both the muggle and wizarding worlds. You know, compare and contrast?"

"That's actually a good idea. We could start with fairy tales to look at the morals each society values. That would be good, especially for first years."

"You might want to coordinate with the history professor to see if you can read tales from whatever time and place they're teaching about."

"What else would you teach first years?" Andi asked.

"Teach them about muggle money. Denominations, why we use paper versus gold that sort of thing. Then second years, you could talk about how to buy things. You might even want to start teaching them budgeting. I'd also start teaching first years about the history of transportation. When they graduate, they need to be able to get around in our world. Start first years talking about how we view religion and race—only a basic concept, that there are differences. Maybe equate it to your blood purists." By this point, Andi had started taking notes on a notepad Dobby brought her.

"Emma, this is great. Do you want to do some of the lessons with me?" Andi beamed at her.

"You want me to come up and give lectures and such?"

"Is there anyone better than a muggle to help teach about muggle culture?"

"I suppose. Let's work on this curriculum, then we can see where Dan or I can assist." Emma advised.

"Okay." Andi sighed as she relaxed a bit. "This is what I was missing at Hogwarts, someone to bounce ideas off of."

After that, to Hermione, it looked like both women were total engrossed in their own conversation, to the exclusion of everyone else. Even when they went back to the house to eat, those two sat next to each other and just kept exchanging ideas. For Emma the intellectual, it was fascinating to understand her daughter's world a little more and to give Andi a different viewpoint to her own. For Andi, the draw was not only making a new friend but seeing how muggle intellectuals viewed society. It was much different than her muggle friends in Godric's Hollow.

HP

Monday was interesting for the quartet. No one had any definitive plans, so Sirius roped them into writing invitations to the Christening and party. So, Monday morning Nev and Harry were in the study writing out the invitations. Luckily, Sirius got the muggle ones that you just fill out who, what where, when and then copy it.

"Dang, I hate writing things down!" Harry groaned.

"Why?" Nev asked as he started addressing envelopes.

"Because no one except Hermione can read my writing." Harry retorted as he also addressed envelopes.

Nev took Harry's envelope. "I can read it. It'll be fine." He reassured his godbrother.

At about eleven they were done. They floo'd to Diagon Alley and found the post office to send the invitations by owl post. They were back in time for lunch.

During lunch, Sirius brought up Wizengamot. "It looks like the Hiring Guidelines Committee I am on will be making its recommendations next Thursday. We will then vote on it on Friday. You will all need to be there. Even if you have a proxy, unless you are too young or out of town, it is expected to be there if your proxy is presenting a bill.

Harry looked at his friends "Want to go to Alton Park that day?" he asked.

The other five laughed. "Sorry Harry." Dora growled. "But if I have to go, so do you."

"Dang! You could come with us?" He laughed.

That night, Harry and Hermione stayed cuddled up together for a long while. They were simply enjoying each other's nearness. "It feels weird, you know?"

"What Mione?"

"It's been over two months since the battle. We finally have our family counseling meeting Wednesday. Luna and I have launched a business. You and Nev are launching your own. After all the hustle of the last few weeks, this weekend felt almost surreal. I mean I have nothing to worry about. I feel like I should be _doing_ something, not sitting around experimenting. Now, I've started to think about all the things we've seen in the past three years. I actually found myself wallowing in the library today, thinking of everyone we might have saved if we'd moved faster."

"Mione, you can't brood. That's my thing." He laughed and she smiled tentatively back. "Really love. There is absolutely nothing we could have done differently. We did as much as we could by finding those horcruxes and destroying them. By the way, you are doing something—you're being my anchor. If I didn't have you, I wouldn't be able to do all that needs to be done. Give yourself some time and breathing room. Relax, experiment on the library system. Who knows? You might be able to change how Hogwarts does its library system."

"I guess I feel like I have no purpose now that the store's running."

"Get back into experimenting. Enjoy it."

"Yeah. I guess I will." He could see her real smile immerge. She leaned up and kissed him. "I love you."

"I love you too."

**7 July 1998**

The next morning, Nev and Harry had a contractor appointment. It was an utter disaster. They came in unprepared and rude. They blamed the fact that they were only told on Friday that a bid was wanted.

One thing they learned about Ariana Baylee that day was you don't try to excuse incompetence to her.

After the contractor left, she apologised. "Sorry about being a little testy with them. Incompetence annoys me."

"Ahhh. That's what you call annoyed?" Nev asked.

"Okay. That was more than annoyed but they should have come in with an actual plan, not vague numbers"

"I completely agree Ariana." Venus concurred.

HP

That afternoon, the boys went to their third Awards Meeting. It amazed both of them that each time they chaired one of these meetings, it got much easier to give their opinions.

Today they were discussing the Order of Merlin 2nd Class. "We've given everyone who was wounded an award. We've given everyone who fought at the Battle of Hogwarts an award. I believe that the OM 2nd class should be given to anyone who has died in fighting Voldemort, whether it be this war or last." Harry opined.

"That'll be a lot of 2nd classes then." Silas sighed.

"Yes, but to not honor those sacrifices is unthinkable." Neville countered. They went round and round but the war veterans all believed this was right and outvoted the non-combatants.

"I put forth that in determining 1st class awardees Neville and Harry be excluded from deliberation." Earl Macmillan suggested.

Nev and Harry looked at each other skeptically. "Why?" Nev asked.

"Because usually 1st class awardees did something beyond the call of duty." Hestia Jones rolled her eyes. "And you two are contenders for those awards. Uh-uh." She held up her hand as they started protesting. "This is why you can't be here. You'll try and influence the decision."

"I understand from Kingsley that the Ministry is trying to put together a commemorative service on August 2. We would like to be able to hand out these awards then." Charles Abbott said. "So, I suggest we present our list at the next full meeting on the 16th. Is that agreeable to everyone?" all agreed.

**Wed 8 July 1998**

The next day, Nev and Harry went to Gringotts for another meeting. This one was more along the lines of what Nev and Harry expected. Even the price was what they expected: 250000G. This was another family run crew with the main contractors being two brothers.

They even said they could start construction next week and be done by mid-August. This was great news to the young men because they were worried about going off to Hogwarts with this unfinished.

"So, what do you think of the Fairchild brothers?" Ariana asked.

"I liked them. Their pricing seems about right. Do you like them?" Nev asked. "After all, you're going to be dealing with them the most."

"Yeah. I've worked with them before. They're good guys that keep a tight rein on budget and time. I get on better with Christopher and we work well together."

"Okay. Well, let's see the guys tomorrow and we'll make a decision then." Harry finished as he got up.

HP

When Nev and Harry got home, everyone was up in the game room. "What would you think about going to that pizza place in town for lunch?" Harry probed.

"Sure." Nev and Luna agreed. It was soon settled and they apparated to the alley near there.

"Why did you want to go out to eat Pup?"

"I just thought it would be something different."

"It is that." Dora concurred. "I love pizza. When I was little my dad and I would go out to pizza once in a while because Mum doesn't like food that you eat with your hands."

"Sounds like Andi." Sirius laughed. "Eating at her place always reminds me of the 'proper' way we ate at Grimmauld. Even though she lives with muggles and has muggle friends, Andi is still the proper pureblood."

"I'm just glad she's teaching the class at Hogwarts." Mione offered. "I think that's the only reason those two blood purists were able to stomach the class."

"Oh Mione, you'll be interested in this." Dora thought aloud. "I was with mum yesterday afternoon and your mum called her. They talked on the phone for about half an hour about that class."

"That's interesting. I heard them talking Sunday about it too."

"So what did you and Luna do while we were at Gringotts today?" Harry asked as he bounced Teddy on his knee.

"We were going through your mum's journals. Pads, if you find any more journals, we need them." She smiled.

"Oh no!" Harry exclaimed as he looked around. "I was going to get the Christening robe from my vault this morning and I forgot."

"Don't worry." Nev laughed. "We'll be there tomorrow."

Harry sighed. "No. I think I better go back today. I'm afraid I'll forget. Also, I want to bring some Charms and Rune books home. Can I take that purse from the trip with me Mione?"

"Sure. Can you make sure to bring home anything your mum has written? She may have more help for us?"

"Of course. I have her private journals at home but I'll see if there is anything else."

When they got home, Teddy was asleep in his godfather's arms. "I'll just put him down before I leave." He told Dora as he went upstairs. He put his godson in the cot, gave him a kiss and quietly left the room.

He went downstairs to the study where both his godfather and godbrother were sitting at their desks working. Going up to Nev, he asked, "Working on a schedule?"

"Yeah. I thought I'd put one together while you were gone."

"Great." I'll see you in a little while." He left and apparated to the bank. When he got to his vault, he looked in the library section. He'd inventoried it earlier in the summer, so he knew where the charms and runes books were. He grabbed one entire shelf of runes books and two of charms. Then he looked around for the journals he knew he'd seen.

At lunch, he didn't admit to Mione that he'd seen a shelf of journals like the ones his godfather gave her because he knew he'd get the same treatment. After seven years of being best friends with her, he knew he'd get into trouble. When he was inventorying his vault, he had noticed these journals but had been much more interested in his mum's personal journals at the time. However, when Sirius had given the journals to Mione, he'd remembered these. _Now I can take them home and not be in trouble_. He thought.

He then found the Christening robes that he'd worn. As he was walking out to call a cart, he saw a jewelry case next to the door. He thought that it might have an engagement ring in it that he could give Mione.

He opened it to see several pouches in the box. He opened one and saw a beautiful, large emerald inlaid into a twisted gold band. There was also a small woman's wedding band made of the twisted gold designed to fit in with the engagement ring. Plus, a men's ring made of the same twisted gold design. He knew his Mione would love it because she wouldn't want to accidentally hit her ring and have the stone be torn off. He put the rings back in the pouch and put the pouch in his pocket. He smiled, knowing that he'd at least have the ring when he got up the nerve to propose.

When he got home, he locked the wedding ring up in his desk and put up the strongest wards he could. He then dropped the Christening robes on Dora's bed and went to the library to drop off all the books.

**9 July 1998**

On Thursday morning, Nev and Harry went to the last interview. It went really well. They liked the couple that presented the plans.

"The one thing I wanted to talk to you about is the stair system." David said. "I notice that the stairs are built like the stairs at Hogwarts, yeah?"

"Yeah." Harry said skeptically.

"Well, what about the toddlers? They can't handle all those stairs, all the time. Plus, you don't want them falling down the stairs."

"Oh bugger." Nev groaned.

"It's okay. I have toddlers at home and understand why you might not think about it."

"But I should've. We have lifts at Hufflepuff House just for that reason." Venus shook her head. "I'm glad you caught that David." She laughed.

"What do you have for us?" Harry asked.

"Glad you asked. What I propose is an escalator in the nursery tower and toddler/preschool tower. I also suggest escalators alongside the stairs."

"How much will this add to the budget?" Harry inquired.

"About 15000 G extra."

"We need this, boys." Venus urged. "I don't want little ones falling down the stairs. Or possibly adults with babies in their arms."

"NO! We don't." Harry could see someone falling with Teddy. He looked at Nev. "Can you imagine Dora if one of us tripped with Teddy?"

Nev just shuddered. "Yeah. We need this."

"Thank you, David for picking up on that." Harry sighed.

"No problem"

"Venus, can you come out here?" Harry asked as he nodded to the door. She, Ariana and Nev got up. "We'll be right back."

The four of them went out. "I want to tell them yes now. Anyone have a problem with that?" Harry queried.

"No." They said together as they laughed and walked back in.

"David, Diana. When can you start?" Harry enquired.

They smiled. "What about this coming Wednesday?" Diana asked.

"Great. Why don't you meet us at the Madhouse on Monday and we'll take you there?"

"The Madhouse?" she looked concerned.

Harry and Nev laughed. "It's the floo address my Aunt Dora gave our house because she says the combination of my godfather and her two-month old son makes the place a Madhouse. She thought it fit!"

That got Diana and David laughing.

HP

When they went home that afternoon, they arrived to a house that had been hit by a hurricane. The drawing room was a complete mess of wrapping paper, unwrapped and wrapped toys, scissors on the floor (which Harry quickly picked up), and packages of brightly colored balloons.

Harry went into the study where Sirius was bent over a map of the property. "What are you doing Pads?"

"I went out shopping for party stuff this morning. I've got to figure out where to put the bounce house now." He brushed his hands through his hair as he stared at the map.

"Why do we need a bounce house?" Nev asked. "It's not like they're going to be kids that are old enough to use one."

"Isn't every kids party supposed to have one?" he asked, confused.

"Only for preschool or school age kids Padfoot." Harry added. He could see Padfoot big plans dissolving in front of him. "Pads, Dora's going to want something small. You know she's doing this because of Moony, not because she wants to. The guest list was exactly who it should be. The decorations in the drawing room are fine. I assume Dobby is doing the meal. We can decorate Saturday night. This is not a battle you need a map for."

At that, Sirius relaxed and sat down. "I suppose you're right. We didn't get to do a big party for yours, I guess I started to go overboard." He grinned sheepishly.

"You think?" Nev said sarcastically.

Harry held out the scissors. "I found these on the drawing room floor. Dora might have a problem with that."

"Yeah." He took them. "Maybe the twins would like to help us decorate Saturday, yeah?"

"They'd love that!" Nev laughed.

Dora popped her head in the door. "Harry can I talk to you?"

"Sure." He followed her out of the study to the formal sitting room.

"Okay. The priest and priestess at the church in Godric's Hollow are going to do a combination wiccan and Anglican ritual. It will be held at one o'clock on Sunday. I have an order of service that you, as the godfather, are going to become familiar with." Dora took a deep breath. "The one decision I have been agonizing over is who to name as Godmother. Wolfie didn't really have an opinion. He got the Godfather he wanted, so he left me with Godmother duty but I'm unsure."

"Can I help with that? Who're you thinking of?"

"It's either Brianna or a childhood friend named Zora."

"Well, who's been here to see Teddy?" He asked, trying to help her think through this.

"Brianna. She's been here at least once a week."

"Has Zora seen him recently?"

"No. I haven't talked to her since I gave birth." She sighed. "I guess it's not that hard a decision when you think about it. Do you think you can get along with Bri well enough to raise him if something happens to me?"

"Yeah. We'll make it work." He smiled. He took the sheets of parchment Dora gave him. "I guess this is the order of service and what we're supposed to do?"

"Yeah. Like I said, it's a combination so it's long and involved. Both parts of the service will take place in the church. Apparently, the priest and priestess are very good friends and do this frequently." They both heard Teddy cry at that moment.

"I'll go get him and check in the library for the girls." Harry got up. He went by the study to drop off his papers before he went upstairs to get his godson.

After lunch, he went into his study and read through the papers Dora gave him. This was bloody complicated. His part seemed simple but he noticed it was mainly a wiccan ritual with sprinklings of Christianity.

By the time he was done, it was almost five o'clock.

HP

Friday and Saturday were just lazy days for the Madhouse. Everyone was preparing for the Christening which meant a lot of decorating being done.


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N This has a combination Wiccan and Anglican Godparent ritual. I found both online and did my best to combine them. There will also be mention of Wiccan holidays that I have researched and tried to do justice to. If there are any of you who practice these religions and can help me, especially with Wicca, I'd appreciate it.**

**Ch. 19**

**Sunday 12 July 1998**

Sunday morning found Harry up in the nursery feeding Teddy while going over his part in the ritual. Teddy kept trying to bat the papers away but Harry kept worrying about when he needed to stand and what to say. He finally put them down before he went to the kitchen.

"I was wondering where you were." Sirius said. "You are usually up before me."

"Yeah. We were up. I was just reading over the order of service for today." He looked at his own godfather. "How'd you deal with the stress of doing this service?"

"I didn't stress. I was too naïve at the time. The day of the service, I was playing catch-the-nose with you for like two hours. I never really believed Jamie and Lily would die, even with the prophecy hanging over you guys. I thought of myself as more your favorite play toy." He shared his experience. "Also, I never had your fear of being in front of people."

"Yeah. It's amazing how that goes away when I'm teaching." Harry laughed.

Pretty soon he had breakfast made and the extended family, including the Grangers, were at the table.

"So Harry. How're you feeling about this Christening today?" Dan laughed at the nearly green young man. "Nervous?"

"You could say that. I'd say terrified." He ground out.

"Don't be." Dora patted his arm. "You'll do wonderfully."

Later that morning, Harry decided to burn off some excess energy by flying. He wasn't scared to be Teddy's Godfather, he'd been around the boy since he was two weeks old. He was just scared of ruining the ritual for Dora's sake. Dora had really become an older sister/aunt to him over the last month and a half. She was always there to help when they needed it—like when they opened the store or when he just wanted someone to talk to. Now she was relying on him to say the right things at the right time. This was not something he felt he was good at. So, as he flew, he thought about everything that could go wrong.

"Love, it's time to get ready." Mione called as she came out to the pitch.

"All right. I'll be there in a minute." He called back as he came out of the sky.

As they headed into the house, she asked, "You ok, love?"

"I'll be fine once the ritual is over." Harry commented. "You know, Andi should teach about the mixing of rituals in her class. I've never been exposed to the rituals used in wizard society."

"Yeah." She opened the door to the kitchen. "Let's talk to her after the Christening."

"You guys going to get ready?" Sirius asked.

"Yep. We'll be down in a while." Harry and Mione went up to their room. "I'll take a shower first Mione." He stripped off his swimming costume and went to the shower.

Hermione began getting their formal robes and other clothing together for each of them. She knew he was preoccupied and also knew from experience that he didn't pay attention to mundane things like clothes when he was worried. She thought it was adorable how worried he was about the ritual.

While she was getting dressed, she began thinking of all that had occurred these last two months. She was so happy with the way things were going. She had a best girlfriend that she loved like a sister, a boyfriend that she was sure would turn into a wonderful husband and dad, an uncle that loved her and she loved back and an aunt of sorts who was just fun. On top of all that she lived right next to her parents, and they got along with this new family, so much so that they got invited to the Christening. Life was good.

**HP**

After the family got dressed, they apparated to Godric's Hollow. They had decided to come a little early because Harry was a little nervous.

They walked to the church and went inside. There weren't the usual pews. There were chairs set up in a circle with an aisle down the middle and several circles of chairs behind the first. There was an altar at the end of the aisle. Harry was directed to sit next to Mione and across from Brianna in the front row.

The Priestess, a woman in her thirties and a Priest in his fifties were at the altar. The Priestess began by calling for blessings by Air, Earth, Fire and Water. Then she began walking in a circle saying "In the name of the Divine; God Goddess, All-That-Is;I do separate this place from the world.  
I set this place apart, sacred and outside of time and space.  
I create this as a holy place, fit for Gods and Men alike."

She then began talking about the four cardinal directions. This really confused Harry. She then called Dora up. Dora stood, handed Teddy to Harry and went to the altar. She then said, "Great Mother, as father to this child, I invite you to join us in her blessing and naming. Please be with us during this special time. All-Father, as mother to this child, I invite you to join us in her blessing and naming. Please be with us during this special time."

"So it is, so it will be." She said and stood back.

The priest came forward and intoned "Brothers and sisters, I ask you to profess

together with _this child_ the faith of the Church. Do you believe and trust in God the Father?"

Everyone in attendance said

"**I believe in God, the Father almighty,**

**creator of heaven and earth."**

Priest said "Do you believe and trust in his Son Jesus Christ?"

_**Everyone repeated:**_

**I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come to judge the living and the dead.**

Priest said "Do you believe and trust in the Holy Spirit?"

**I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.**

**Amen.**

The Priestess asked for the child. Dora turned to Harry. He kissed his godson as he handed him to Dora. He watched as Dora stood there with Teddy as the Priestess confirmed this was a child of love.

Harry took a deep breath as Mione squeezed his hand as he and Brianna stood up and went to the altar. As the Priestess was blessing Teddy with Air, Harry took him from Dora. She just grinned at her two boys.

The Priestess lit the incense and began wafting it around Teddy saying "With air I sense thee, child of Dora and Remus. May all the blessings of the Element of Air surround and protect you as you grow to adulthood."

Then a candle was passed around Teddy as the Priestess said "With fire I purify thee, child of Dora and Remus. May all the blessings of the Element of Fire surround and protect you as you grow to adulthood."

Then she sprinkled water on Teddy's forehead and said "With water I cleanse thee, child of Dora and Remus. May all the blessings of the Element of Water surround and protect you as you grow to adulthood."

She backed away and the Priest came forward. "Praise God who made heaven and earth,

_**All**_** who keeps his promise for ever.**

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

_**All**_** It is right to give thanks and praise.**

We thank you, almighty God, for the gift of water to sustain, refresh and cleanse all life. Over water the Holy Spirit moved in the beginning of creation. Through water you led the children of Israelfrom slavery in Egypt to freedom in the Promised Land.

In water your Son Jesus received the baptism of John and was anointed by the Holy Spirit as the Messiah, the Christ, to lead us from the death of sin to newness of life. We thank you, Father, for the water of baptism.

In it we are buried with Christ in his death. By it we share in his resurrection.

Through it we are reborn by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, in joyful obedience to your Son, we baptize into his fellowship those who come to him in faith.

Now sanctify this water that, by the power of your Holy Spirit, they may be cleansed from sin and born again. Renewed in your image, may they walk by the light of faith and continue for ever in the risen life of Jesus Christ our Lord; to whom with you and the Holy Spirit be all honour and glory, now and for ever.

_**All**_** Amen."**

The Priestess came back and blessed him by salt and did the naming ceremony. Then she looked at Harry and Brianna and asked "These parents have chosen you as godparents for Edward Remus Lupin. Are you willing to stand up as such, for Edward?"

"We do" They intoned.

The Preistess recited: "Please take the wand in your right hands and give your oaths"

They did as asked and Harry repeated his memorized lines "I, Harry James Potter, do swear to stand as godparent to Edward Remus Lupin. I promise to do my best to be a good example for Edward, in deed and thought, in word and heart. I will teach what lessons of faith and religion that I can to Edward, always mindful that he will make his own choices when he reaches maturity. I will support him in his exploration of the world as he grows, and will always lend an ear when he needs someone to turn to. I swear this in the name of my gods. So be it."

He handed Teddy to Brianna "I, Brianna Elizabeth Richards, do swear to stand as godparent to Edward Remus Lupin. I promise to do my best to be a good example for Edward, in deed and thought, in word and heart. I will teach what lessons of faith and religion that I can to Edward, always mindful that he will make his own choices when he reaches maturity. I will support him in his exploration of the world as he grows, and will always lend an ear when he needs someone to turn to. I swear this in the name of my gods. So be it."

The Priestess replied "Your oaths are accepted by your gods, by Edward's parents, and witnessed by all of us here. Now I ask of all those here a similar oath. A child cannot be raised alone; it is best done by a village, as the adage goes. Will you, each alone and together, stand as a village to Edward Remus? Will you be good examples for him to follow, and provide him with shelter, love, and joy as you are able?"

"**We will"** the congregation replied.

The Priest came up as the Priestess stood back. "Parents and godparents, the Church receives _this child_ with joy.

Today we are trusting God for _their_ growth in faith.

Will you pray for _him_,

draw _him_ by your example into the community of faith

and walk with _him_ in the way of Christ?

**With the help of God, we will.**

In baptism _this child_ begins his journey in faith.

You speak for _him_ today.

Will you care for _him_,

and help _him_ to take _his_ place

within the life and worship of Christ's Church?

**With the help of God, we will."**

The Priestess came back "Edward Remus Lupin, you are but a young infant, and cannot yet make choices of your own. Until such time as you are mature enough for those decisions, we ask that our gods bless you and care for you, and accept you as their own. May they guide your steps and keep you safe from all harm until such time as you are old enough to dedicate yourself of your own accord. Edward is truly blessed, for he is loved not only by his parent, but by his godparents, Harry and Brianna, and by each and every one of those present here today. We all have things we wish for Edward, and all these gifts will be his in years to come. In token of those gifts, we will now bring around a book wherein we would like you to record your wishes and words. When Edward comes of age, these wishes and words will again be shared with him, and he will see how the love of his community has shaped his life. The Circle is open yet unbroken. May the peace of the Divine go with us always in our hearts and souls! Merry meet, merry part, and merry meet again."

Harry gave Teddy back to Dora as the Priestess finished the ritual. He sat down next to Mione and dropped his head on her shoulder. "Boy am I glad that's done!" As everyone was getting up, he groaned. They got up and followed Dora out of the church.

Sirius came up from behind, "Weird wasn't it?"

"You could say that. I've never been involved in anything remotely religious and I got a mix of pagan and Christian in one sitting." Harry sighed.

"Well, everyone that got invited is coming to the Madhouse. We better get home so we can greet them." Sirius turned on his heel and left.

"Better go." Harry remarked as he disapparated.

**HP**

When he got home, the entrance hall looked like someone threw up the rainbow. "Have the twins been here?" Harry asked his godfather.

"Probably one of them. I only saw one at the church." Sirius smiled. "I love those boys. They are so much fun."

They walked into the formal sitting room which had the same treatment. In fact, so did the drawing room, the kitchen and the terrace. Even Dobby was decorated in a multi-colored shirt and pants.

"I can't believe those boys." Mione grumbled as she came into the kitchen. That's when the front door opened.

"Hello, Hello. This is amazing!" Hermione heard her dad say as he came in the kitchen.

"Then you can clean it up Dad!"

"Fair enough but aren't you a witch? Can't you clean this with your wand?"

"That's not the point. Those prats messed up my home!"

"Come on, Mione. Let's move to the terrace." Harry took her hand and pulled her outside, not wanting a fight today. He sat on a double swing and pulled her down on his lap. "I love you. Thanks for putting up with me these last days. I know I've been a pain."

She kissed him "Yes you have, but I understand why."

Soon all their family and friends were out on the terrace sitting around and talking of how their summer plans were going. Brianna kept stealing her godson from everyone who attempted to hold the boy.

Teddy was enjoying being passed around to all the adults who played with him but eventually wanted one of the family when he became overstimulated. He went to Dora first but when Harry was in his line of sight, he held out his hands. No one was really sure if that meant he wanted up, except Harry, who would automatically pick the boy up.

"I think it's a learned reaction for Teddy." Brianna offered as she came into the tail end of this debate.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.

"Well, I think Harry's trained him because every time Teddy does that one motion, Harry picks him up."

"Exactly what I was trying to say." Hermione replied emphatically.

"He's just smarter than every other two-month-old!" Harry retaliated firmly. Hermione and Brianna just rolled their eyes.

"Whatever you say Harry." Brianna said as though consoling a five-year-old.

"I think you're jealous because he loves me best!" Harry replied petulantly. As the women were rolling their eyes again, Dora came up and took her son.

"He loves me best. Don't you little sweetheart?" She cuddled the boy. He held out his arms to Harry, which got the whole crowd laughing as Dora reluctantly handed him back.

Later on, after the food, cake and gifts, people started drifting home. However, it wasn't until about seven o'clock that the Madhouse was only inhabited by its native residents. They were now in the game room relaxing.

"I was talking to Augusta today about the rituals in our society. We have both been taught the practices of those rituals and holidays we celebrate but have both stopped practicing them. Tomorrow, we are going over to talk about the next ritual in the calendar, Lammas." Sirius said.

"Oh goody. More rituals." Harry said sarcastically.

"Harry, you have to at least know these rituals, even if you don't practice our religion." Sirius explained.

"I get that. I just don't like it."

"It sounds fun to me!" Mione said with a big smile.

"Of course, it does Mione." Said Harry and Nev together. Mione just rolled her eyes.

"Can I come?" Luna asked. "Mum was the one that celebrated the holidays, not daddy. I've forgotten a lot of it."

"Of course, Lune." Sirius smiled, wondering if she'd pick up on her new nickname.

"Lune?" Nev inquired.

"My nickname for our little Luna." Sirius grinned as Luna shot herself into his arms.

"I love it!" She looked up at him. "But only you can call me that!" Dang, he loved these kids!

"Just remember Padfoot, Nev and I have to be at Gringotts at one for Headmistress interviews."

"I know."

Soon, everyone realised how tired they were and went off to bed.

**13 July 1998**

The next morning around half eight, the quartet and Sirius floo'd to Longbottom Estates.

"Welcome to Longbottom Estates." Augusta intoned.

"Hi Gran." Harry reached over for a hug.

She smiled. "Hello Harry."

She reached over for a hug from Neville. "Hi Gran." He smiled. He liked this new version of Gran.

"So," She said as she led them into the sitting room. "Today we are going to talk about rituals. Especially Lammas, which comes up on August first. There are eight ritual holidays in the calendar. Most practitioners consider Yule to be the beginning of the new year. That is because it is the shortest day of the year and thus begins the progress to spring and longer days. Most of the rituals you'll learn about have to do with the seasons and nature in origin. However, we have adapted them as we became a non-agrarian society. Traditionally, Lammas was a time of prayer to the Harvest Mother for a bountiful harvest. Also traditionally, we build an altar with things like corn stalks, wheat, grapes anything that is related to the harvest. By this time in the year, they were hopeful for a bountiful harvest but fearful they would not have one. By asking for a bountiful harvest and doing the harvest rituals, we are asking for a 'bountiful crop' in our lives. Do you have any questions so far?" She got several no's in return. She then went over to a small table near the fire with an orange cloth on it and showed them how to decorate their altar.

"Our family not only celebrates the Harvest Mother Goddess at this time but the God Lugh as well. We perform rituals to celebrate both on August 1. In order for you to prepare, I have both rituals written out. We will perform them on August 1, here. I will expect Luna and Hermione to come here early that day to set up the altar so we may perform it at sunset. As the ladies of the house, it is going to be your job to teach these traditions to your children, therefore you must know how to do these things."

Soon afterwards, the quartet and Sirius left for the Madhouse. They apparated in and heard Dobby singing. They went into the kitchen and saw Dobby feeding Teddy and singing.

"Hey Dobby. How's Teddy doing?" Harry asked.

"Wonderful Master Harry Potter Sir. He woke up from his morning nap and I took him so Mistress Dora could get dressed." They heard noise from the entrance hall as Dora came into the kitchen.

"Good to see you're all home." She smiled as she took Teddy for a burp. "So, how'd it go?"

"Good. We learned about Lammas." Harry returned as he sat at the table for lunch. They talked about what they'd learned and what they were doing for the rest of the day.

"Well, we have to go in to interview a Headmistress today. Then another tomorrow and one Wednesday." Harry sighed. "But at least, she'll hire all the teachers."

Dora laughed. "I guess that's a relief for you."

"We're going up to the library to study the journals. We're so close to extending a spell for a specific amount of time." Luna offered.

"I have a Creature Law meeting today." Sirius added.

**HP**

After lunch, they all dispersed to their various places. Harry and Nev apparated to Gringotts. When they got into Ted's office, they noted Swordback looking through reams of parchment, however, he had a computer next to him.

"Hey Swordback? What are you doing?" Harry asked.

"I'm putting a large amount of parchment work into this computer." He mumbled as he briefly looked at his friends.

"Sounds fun." Harry said sarcastically. He turned to Ted. "So, where's Venus?"

"Right here." She answered as she walked in. "Valerie will be here in 10 minutes."

"Are we using the conference room again?"

"Yep." She grinned as she handed them Valerie's CV. "Here's what she's done."

They looked it over. "She's a witch working in a muggle school?" Nev asked.

"Yes. She has plenty of experience with children. However, she's never dealt with little witches and wizards and, as you know, they come with a whole set of problems."

They spent a good hour and a half talking to Valerie and could see why Venus liked her. She seemed to like kids of all ages and wanted a change from what she was doing. However, she had no experience dealing with administering a school.

After the interview, Venus asked, "What are your thoughts?"

"Well, she's never run a school before." Nev began.

"She doesn't seem like the sort of person who would make a good administrator. She seems to have her own ideas and want to run with them without checking if they'd work." Harry offered.

"It's funny. Those were my feelings too." She laughed.

"Let's put her name down as a maybe and we'll talk to the others first." Nev suggested.

**HP**

Back at the Madhouse, Hermione and Luna went up to the library to search through the journals and books that came out of the Potter Vault. On top of the five journals Sirius found, there were at least fifteen more that had both Lily's and Remus' handwriting. Some had potions directions, some had made up spells but the most important thing they found that afternoon was in a small section of the journal. It said: Specifically Timed Spells.

"Look at this Hermione." Luna exclaimed, getting very excited. She came over and sat with Luna. She put the book between them. "Here, it says the incantation and the wand movement. I wonder how they came up with this."

"Look!" Hermione pointed to a section of text where it explained how she and Remus experimented with different versions of the incantations. "I think we can do this. Let's go to the Burrow and see if this works."

**HP**

When the boys were done interviewing Valerie and talking it over with Venus, they decided to see what was going on in the Alley. As they headed over to the Leaky, they noticed both WWW and MIT were doing loads of business. They decided to go into MIT.

"Hey Angelina!" Harry called out to his former captain.

"Hey Harry!" She returned as she wrapped up a sale. "How're Hermione and Luna doing?"

"Well. I think Mione was bored there for a few days after the shop didn't need her but she's back into inventing now." Harry laughed at the horror on her face.

"Is she going to bring them in to sell?" She asked.

"If she gets them working, I think so." They talked for a few more minutes, then the boys left to apparate home.

**14 July 1998**

The next day, they had their second interview with a prospective Headmistress. This candidates name was April Froshbent. She was the Headmistress at a large Catholic school in London.

Swordback brought her into the conference room where Venus, Harry and Nev were waiting. They talked for a good two hours about what she liked with her school and what she'd do differently if she were running it.

"I believe that, while most of these children are magical, they need a regular primary school education. That means maths, science, history, English, and a foreign language. Most magicals are home schooled or tutored. My problem with this is that in first year at Hogwarts most magicals are at different skill level and are actually behind their muggleborn peers who have gone to primary school. I've always wanted to teach at a magical primary school—we just don't have them here in Britain."

"So, what do you think?" Venus asked the boys after she left.

"I like her." Nev said. "She's smart and has good ideas."

"They aren't pie-in-the-sky ideas either and she has experience with administration."

**HP**

That afternoon, Harry got a call from Ariana saying they would be ready for groundbreaking tomorrow. This meant everything was right on schedule. The boys decided to stay home and just enjoy an afternoon off.

Although it was Tuesday, they decided to have a movie night. Everyone made pizzas and took them up to the game room where they watched Beauty and the Beast.

After the movie, with all three girls crying about how sweet it was, Harry turned to Nev and Sirius. "Next time we watch a movie, we're watching an adventure. None of this weepy stuff."

"Harry!" Mione squealed in frustration. "The only reason we cried was because we were happy, you dope."

"Don't get me wrong. It was interesting but crying makes no sense." Nev added.

"Don't try and understand it guys. Lily told me that men just don't have to understand. I've accepted this." Sirius contributed.

As it was near ten o'clock and Teddy was out like a lantern, Harry decided it was time for bed. "I think I'm going to take Teddy to his cot and go to bed myself." He got up without waking Ted, which he hadn't been able to do a few months ago.

"I'm coming love." Mione jumped up, kissed Uncle Sirius and followed him down.

A little while later, Nev and Luna decided to go to bed. It was now just Sirius and Dora. "You know, Teddy will be three-months old in two days." He sighed. "I'm just having so much trouble with all the changes in our lives, you know what I mean?" Sirius looked at his cousin.

"Yeah. Three months ago I had a husband and was still pregnant. We had no idea where Harry was. Voldemort was in power. You were in hiding and presumed guilty. We were living in that horrid house. Now, Wolfie's dead, Teddy's alive, we have Harry, Hermione, Neville and Luna. Voldie's dead. You're free and we're living in our own place with our family." She paused. "For the most part our lives are one hundred percent better. That doesn't mean I don't miss Wolfie every day though."

"Yeah. Me too. I'll miss him for the rest of my life."

HP

When Harry and Mione got into bed that night, they just laid there cuddled

together. "I know you and I talked about starting Teddy a photo album for his birthday but I haven't started it, have you?" He asked.

"Yes. I did. I raided your album and copied some of those photos for Teddy. I've also found some of Teddy and put them in." She answered.

"Thank you, love." Harry smiled. "And, if I know you, you've talked to the family about coming over Thursday and to Dobby about the cake."

"Yep." She just grinned as she gave him a passionate kiss, which of course led to other activities that night.


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N I wanted to take this time to sincerely thank you for all the reviews. I really enjoy hearing what you like and don't like.I got a review asking why I did a combination Christian-Pagan ritual. Remus' mother was a muggle, I imagine she would have brought her religious beliefs with her and taught them to Remus. The Christian portion of the ceremony was Dora trying to bring Remus into the service. Honestly, at least in my story, you will hear more of Yule than Christmas, Spring Equinox than Easter ect. I will bring some religion into this but it will not be Christian. I see the Grangers' as more Agnostic than Christian anyway, so Hermione wouldn't have been brought up with traditional religion being a part of her life.**

**FYI I have enough chapters written to update until mid-May at least. At that point, I might take a break to reread the whole thing and make certain changes that are stewing in my head right now. Or I might wait for summer to do that.**

**A/N 26/1/20 just changed spelling so nothing major has changed. I really need a beta, I'm doing this on my own. If any of you have time and want to help, let me know, please.**

**Anyway, Enjoy!**

**Ch. 20**

**15 July 1998**

The next morning, Nev and Harry arrived at Gringotts for their last Headmistress interview.

"Whenever I think of the word Headmistress, I think of Minerva. Yet none of these candidates even remotely remind me of her. It's very weird thinking of anyone else that way." Harry remarked as they walked in.

"I know. What I find even more bizarre is that we will technically be her boss." Nev shuddered.

They got to Ted's office and said hi to Venus as the three walked into the conference room.

"Now, this next applicant has lots of time in a large private school as well. I'll warn you, she's around my age." Venus informed the boys as Swordback let her in.

They sat and talked for a good hour about what she'd done, what she'd like to do differently at a new school. Basically, everything the boys or Venus could think of. They all really liked her and were very satisfied with all the applicants.

However, when the three talked about it, Venus had some concerns. "I really think our school needs a young administrator. I want the staff of LAR to have a more progressive attitude. Quite frankly, I saw that in April yesterday. I didn't see that with any of the others. What do you think?" She asked the young men.

"I understand your reaction. I liked her best too." Harry replied.

"Will you be able to work with her Venus? We aren't going to have to work with her every day." Nev countered.

"I think so. I also see training her as my replacement eventually." She smiled at the shock on their faces. "I will eventually retire."

"Not for a long time you won't" Harry muttered in reply. "So, are we going with April?" He got two nods. "Great. I'll call her this afternoon. Venus, we were thinking of heading out there since they're starting on the construction today. Do you want to join us? It's only half ten."

"Sure. Sounds fun." She returned as they walked out of Gringotts and apparated to the site. When they got there, it was a beehive of activity. They walked around and saw people measuring, putting down foundation, at one spot it looked like they were already building something. Finally, they ran into David.

"Hey! Glad to see you guys could make it!" He yelled over the noise. "Why don't I take you around and show you the progress?"

"That'd be great!" Venus replied as they began walking the site. They could see where everything was going to be. It amazed the boys to see their dream actually coming true. They went home for lunch exhausted but happy.

**HP**

At lunchtime, Nev and Harry couldn't stop talking about what they'd seen. "I wouldn't be surprised if they have it all done before we hire everyone." Harry enthused.

"They can do that?" Mione asked.

"Mione, they were pouring the foundation today! That takes months in the muggle world. All the testing of the ground to make sure it's stable takes forever." Harry replied enthusiastically.

"There are spells for that sort of thing." Sirius answered the unasked questions.

"I love magic." Harry breathed as he drank his coke. "Oh, and we found our Headmistress. She's perfect. She has experience in muggle schools so she actually knows what she's doing. I gotta call her today. She has her own cell already."

Sirius and Dora started laughing. "What?" Harry asked.

"You look like you're about to explode with excitement. It's funny!" Sirius responded through his laughter.

"Well, magic is brilliant! If we can have this place up and running in month and a half, who says we can't build another one if we need it. The list of kids in government housing is more than 160. We may need to build another one soon."

Hermione swallowed and grinned at Harry. "Harry, you sound like me when I'm experimenting. Calm down."

"No, Mione. You're still waaay more excited." Luna laughed. Hermione just gave her a 'back off' look but instead of working, Luna just laughed harder. "You don't see yourself when you're in that mode. I do."

"Anyway, Harry. Get this first one built, then you can see about more." Mione smiled at his enthusiasm. "How do you think it went, Nev?"

"It went great. It was really fascinating watching them work but I can't wait to get the greenhouses up."

"And there's the love of my life." Luna laughed as Nev reddened. After lunch, Harry, Nev and Sirius all went to the study. Sirius was writing up the final proposal for the Hiring Policy Committee. Harry was looking through the CV's of the two Deputy Heads they would be interviewing tomorrow morning. Nev was looking through research he'd done about the kind of greenhouses he wanted to put in. The women were up in the library with books.

"You know, I think I need to go back to Longbottom Estates and get some more books. I thought I brought the information I need but I cannot find it." Nev said thoughtfully.

"Okay. I think I'm going to go back to Gringotts to look in the vault for more books I saw on family history and defence. There were some that I left there thinking I'd come back." Harry replied. "You might want to look these over before tomorrow." He handed Nev the CV's.

"I'll do that when I get back." He put them on his desk.

"See ya later boys." Sirius waved as he continued typing.

**HP**

That night, Harry called Headmistress Froshbent and told her the good news. They agreed that she would start hiring school teachers and that she would hire a deputy for each age group of the school: the preschool, primary and secondary schools.

They also agreed that Venus, Harry and she would meet each Wednesday to update everyone on where they were in regards to hiring and equipping the school.

**16 July 1998**

Thursday morning Harry got Teddy up and ready for the day in his usual manner. Of course, while he was dressing Teddy, he was letting him know that it was his birthday and that they were going to have a party for him.

Eventually, Harry and Nev had to leave for the Deputy Head interviews. However, before they left, their girlfriends pulled them into the study.

"What's up?" Nev asked.

"Well, we're going to have Andi come over today to decorate for the birthday party. Dora's bringing Teddy to her before Wizengamot today. She's going to come here while we're busy. However, she told us that she doesn't want anyone home before six. So, if Wizengamot let's out early, we need to keep Dora out." Luna informed them.

"We can do that. We'll just take her to the mall. She loves those shoe stores." Harry grinned.

"Okay. That will work." Mione agreed.

"That it?"

"Yes, Harry. You can go now." Mione sighed, knowing how excited he was to do all this hiring.

The boys left the house and spent from half eight to nearly eleven o'clock interviewing both a man and a woman for the Deputy position. This would be the person Venus would work most directly with, so the young men felt that, while they needed a say, the real decision would be made by her.

After both interviews Venus inquired, "So, what do you think?"

"Well, who do you think you would work best with?" Nev countered.

"I could work with either one. They both have a good grasp on what we're trying to do here. Neither one of them is scared of me because of my family name." She laughed.

"Maybe that's because neither went to Hogwarts and knows your aunt for the strict woman she is." Harry snorted.

"There is that." Nev commented. "I really like the American Brock Greene. He seemed to be most in tune with what we've always talked about—it being a home not a place to sleep."

"Me too." Harry concurred.

"Then why don't you let Brock know?" Venus stated.

"Okay." Harry said as the pair of men stood. "Who are we interviewing tomorrow?"

"Head of Discipline. I have two coming in at half eight and ten o'clock." She replied as she handed Nev the CV's of the applicants.

"Okay. We'll see you tomorrow Venus." Harry said as he and Nev left.

**HP**

When they got home, lunch was immediately served. "So, we found our Deputy Head today." Harry said as they started to eat.

"So, you've got a Head, Headmistress and Deputy Head. Who are you interviewing tomorrow?" Sirius asked.

"Head of Discipline. I think we'll be done hiring the Heads for the orphanage by the end of next week." Harry answered.

"Good because we are going to present Creature Laws next week I think." Sirius noted.

"So, what have you guys decided on that?" Hermione inquired.

"We decided to reclassify werewolves as not creatures but wizards with a disease. It'll be much easier and cheaper for them to get Wolfsbane now. We are going to have each 'creature' like centaurs and goblins be classified as magic users not creatures and are going to have a wizard liaison for each type of magic user. So, there will be someone dedicated to making Goblin-Wizard relations better and so on. These people are going to be our eyes and ears to other magic users. We're also going to close down the Department for the Control of Magical Creatures and spread those capable into the Magic Users Liaison Department." He sighed. "You wouldn't believe how much more difficult that committee was than the Hiring Regulations one."

"I can. With the racism that exists in this culture, I'm surprised you got a committee to agree to those." Mione said.

"It's funny in that most of Wizengamot is now new members. We've gotten rid of most of the old pureblood faction, yet still people cannot seem to embrace change." Sirius complained. "I had to do so much arm twisting to bring people around to my view, it was unnerving."

"Will the House Elves have a liaison?" Mione asked.

Sirius laughed. "You should've seen their faces when I included them as magical beings. But yes, they will. Honestly, I'm not sure what the House Elves want but we'll see."

That afternoon, Sirius, Dora and the couples went to Wizengamot. While it was the actual monthly meeting, it was also where some committees were going to share their findings.

Harry knew that they were having an Alliance Dinner that Saturday, so he didn't really need to pay attention because it would all be recapped then. He began fidgeting.

"Harry, pay attention!" Mione hissed.

"Sorry, Mione. Feels like Binns' class." Harry shrugged at the deadly look she gave him.

Finally, they got to the Hiring Guidelines committee. It was nearly four o'clock when Sirius stood to present.

"Lords and Ladies, we have gone through all of the written and unwritten rules the ministry uses for hiring. According to both written and unwritten laws, the first choice for hiring currently goes to Purebloods. Next goes to Half-bloods, then goes to Muggleborns. We have looked through everything and can find many Department Heads in their position only due to blood status. Look at the Department for Regulation of Magical Creatures Head Amos Diggory. He is a known bigot that believes all creatures should be put down. This is not the attitude we needed from the head of this department but he got the job because he's a pureblood. Meanwhile, Andrew Brooks, a muggleborn who got O's in both OWL and NEWT Magical creatures, was only the Deputy Head, while Diggory got two A's. It is unacceptable that this bias takes place in our society, let alone our government. We suggest a merit-based hiring system that would take place immediately. There would be a group only devoted to seeing if Department Heads deserve their spots. Then they would review all hiring's biannually to make sure they are fair. We also suggest we make these into actual laws that people can't quibble over."

This led to an uproar that lasted until after six o'clock when they tabled the discussion until the next day.

**HP**

When they got home, the house was decorated for Teddy's birthday. Dora looked at Sirius. "What's all this for?"

"I didn't do it!" Dora actually believed him.

"Then who did?"

"I did." Andi said from behind her.

"Mum, he doesn't turn one for—nine months. Why?" Andi pointed at Harry as Teddy reached for his godfather. "Why Harry?"

"My godson turned 3 months old today. I figure that we should celebrate it." He replied firmly. "It's not like we can take the invites back now, is it?"

Dora just stared at him, then shook her head as she headed to her room. She was heard saying, "I live with crazy people. A party for being 3 months? What's next? A party for a dirty nappy?"

Harry and Sirius laughed as everyone went to change. He put Ted in the middle of the bed and was stripping to change into jeans and a t-shirt when Mione came in to change as well.

"Hey love." He said absentmindedly as he looked for his jeans.

"Hey lover." She said huskily as he felt her arms go around him from behind. He stood up and turned in her arms. He pulled her to him and kissed her feverishly. As his hands began wandering down her wonderfully naked body, he pushed her over to the bed and laid her down when they both heard Teddy giggle.

It was as though someone doused them with freezing water. "Shit!" he groaned as he pulled her off the bed. "Bloody kid."

He looked over at his love and saw she was pink but trying to hold her laughter in. "What?" He groused. "You wander around naked, being all sexy, then Teddy comes in and you want to laugh?"

"No. I was thinking that if you weren't such a devoted godfather, we would be making love right now. Sucks doesn't it?" She laughed as she gathered clothes and he finished getting dressed.

He picked up the offending baby and said. "I love you kiddo but your timing sucks." He heard Mione laugh as he left.

When he got to the kitchen, Dora looked at him and started laughing. "What's wrong Harry?"

"Your son has the worst timing possible!" He growled rather than screaming so he didn't scare the kid.

"Ooooh! You and Mione went to change and. . . oh." She continued laughing.

"Yeah. Just laugh it up. He's your son!"

"Hello, Hello." They heard as the door opened.

"In the kitchen Dan." Harry yelled as he left for the terrace. Soon people started arriving and taking Teddy from him. It was mainly their Sunday family, Brianna, Kingsley, Hagrid, Venus and Minerva who were invited.

Eventually, the meal was done and Dobby brought out a cake with three candles, which was devoured quickly. Soon it was time for presents. The twins gave him a onesie that had the Marauders Map on the front with little feet moving around on it while his butt said Mischief Managed.

"That is brilliant boys!" Sirius grinned. "Moony would've loved that!"

Others gave him more mundane things like regular onesies, stuffed wolf, stuffed lion and stuffed badger. Then Harry and Hermione's present was opened by Dora.

The front of the album had a wolf, grim and stag in a forest with his name and birthday engraved. She opened it and found a picture of Remus and her at their wedding. Then there were pictures of both Remus and Dora from school and finally pictures of Teddy.

"See, Dora. There are lots more pages to fill in. We thought you could keep it up as he grows and give it to him when he's older." Mione explained. She looked at Dora and noticed she'd been silently crying this whole time.

"Did we do something wrong?" Harry asked, concerned. He really didn't like crying witches.

She shook her head and stood up to bring them both into a hug. "Thank you. This will mean so much to him. Thank you."

"You're welcome." Harry smiled. "I got one like it at the end of my first year from Hagrid." He looked up at his big friend who had a grin plastered on his face. "I know how much he'll treasure it."

**HP**

The next day at Gringotts was hectic because they had two interviews for the Head of Discipline. However, because they had been doing this a few days, they soon got into the rhythm.

They spent an hour and a half talking to each applicant. They talked about how they wanted the residents to feel, each candidate's view on positive and negative reinforcement, that kind of thing.

Because of her greater experience with discipline and small children, Harry and Nev let Venus lead the interviews. When Venus asked the second candidate about spanking, the man's reply was "Sometimes kids need to be beat."

This of course had Harry seeing red. Nev looked over at him right after the applicant said that and said quietly, "Harry, let's go take a walk. It's not worth it to kill him." as he nudged Harry to his feet. He then looked over his shoulder. "Venus, you know which one we'd choose, yeah?" She nodded.

"I'm in agreement." She looked concernedly at Harry, then at Neville.

"Thanks." He returned as he led Harry out of Gringotts.

It was when they were finally out of there that Harry ground out. "We need to call the DMLE about that-that-that"

"Horrible person?" Nev supplied, knowing full well that's not what Harry was going for.

He looked at Nev. "That's not where I was headed but sure. I can't believe he works with children. It's Snape all over again."

"I know. Why don't I go talk to the DMLE and you go home to swim?" Nev suggested, knowing that that was how Harry burned off a bad day now.

"Okay. I'll see you at lunch." Harry took a deep breath to center himself as he apparated home. He went right up to his room to change and down to the pool house.

**HP**

Hermione and Luna came to the kitchen a little while later, where Nev was sitting drinking a beer. Knowing Nev didn't drink until after dinner, Luna asked "What went wrong love?" as she put her arms around him.

"We interviewed a prospective Head of Discipline that told us that, and I quote, 'Some kids need to be beat'. Harry did not react well, although he held it together. I sent him home to swim while I talked to Amelia Bones. She's going to have him looked into."

"Okay. I'm heading out there." Mione got up. "Don't wait for us. We may not be at Wizengamot today. Can you explain to Sirius for me?"

"Explain what?" Sirius inquired as she walked out. She opened the door to the pool house and walked inside.

Until the week they got home from Australia, Harry had not known how to swim. He asked Hermione to teach him because he wanted to be able to teach Teddy eventually. She did and, like most everything physical, Harry took to it.

Now she watched as he took one turn after the other with clean, strong strokes. Hermione really liked watching him swim like this because, for her, watching him move through the water as his muscles contracting and relaxing was very sexy. She shook her head as she cleared those thoughts from her mind. She went to the edge of the pool and sat down until he came back.

When he did touch the wall, he came up and was about to turn when he saw the love of his life. Knowing he really needed her right then, he stopped and looked up into her chocolate eyes.

"You heard what happened?"

"Yeah. Nev saw Amelia and she's going to investigate." She heard him sigh as he pulled himself out of the water. "How long have you been in here?" she queried, trying not to think about his body dripping wet right then.

"What time is it?"

"Half twelve." She looked at her watch.

"About an hour." He dried himself off and reached down and helped her up. He then hugged her. "You feel amazing." He groaned.

"So do you love." She kissed his neck as she pushed herself closer to him. She looked up at those beautiful green orbs as she felt herself weaken with the desire to be as close to him as possible.

"Do we have to be anywhere today?" he ground out as he kissed her all over as his hands ran down her body.

"Sposed to be at Wizengamot." She panted as she kissed him as fervently as he was kissing her. "Told them not to expect us though."

He stopped his ministrations as he looked into her eyes pleadingly.

"Yes." Was all she could get out before he picked her up and went to their bedroom. He laid her gently on the bed as he leaned over her and slowly undid each button while exploring each new bit of beautiful flesh.

She kept running her hands all over his body. As she got down to his swimsuit, she began to pull it down.

**HP**

A few hours later, after exploring every inch of each other, they decided it was time to get up. "Feel better hon?" Mione asked playfully.

"Much." He grinned back.

They went to the game room and Mione read a book while Harry threw darts. It was interesting that after nearly eight years as friends and a few months as a couple, that they could be in the same room and not have to fill it with noise. The silence was comforting as they did their own things.

It was so quiet that they heard the first apparition into the entrance hall and all the noise that followed wherever Sirius went. They both headed downstairs when they heard it.

"Hey guys." Harry greeted. "How'd it go?"

"Pretty well. We got most things passed but it took some persuading." Sirius grinned.

"You should've seen Sirius. He was so passionate and so convincing that he had all the women and most of the men spellbound." Luna giggled. "I looked over and saw Daphne Greengrass actually drooling and that Blishwick woman seemed to stop breathing as he talked."

"I am sexy as hell." He shrugged as he struck a model's pose.

"Get off it Sirius!" Dora hit his shoulder.

"Oh Gods." Harry groaned as everyone else just laughed. "Guys don't encourage this behavior-pleeeease."

Sirius came up to him and put his arm around him. "Don't worry, pup. You're my godson, some of my sexy should rub off on you."

He ruffled Harry's hair as Harry extricated himself from Sirius "Not funny Pads!"

"Besides, he's sexy enough on his own!" Hermione replied as she kissed her lover passionately. They came up to catcalls from the men in the family. Of course, both teens were beet red when they realised what they'd let others see.

They then sat down for their Friday Night Movie. "We're watching Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark." Nev said as he put it in. Of course, there were choruses of "Cinderella! Cinderella!" from the women

"You guys have chosen the last two. We get one now." Harry countered, staring them all down.

"Fine." They mumbled. "But we get the next one." Luna added.

"Fair enough." Sirius agreed.

At the end of the movie, all the women agreed. Harrison Ford looked much better as Indy than Han. As they started dissecting the differences, Harry said. "We don't need to hear this. Why don't we play some pool?"

As they racked the balls, Dora said, "Not that I disagree with you about Indy but that was a brilliant way to get rid of those prats." They all laughed as she fed Teddy.


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N I went back to change Lavender in Chapter 13. That's why you've gotten so many updates today. I couldn't figure out how to just edit it. Yes. I've figured out now so that won't happen again.**

**Ch. 21**

**17 July 1998**

That night, at around midnight, Harry and Hermione were still up in their room reading. Mione put her book down and got a mischievous grin on her face. "Want to go swimming?" she asked innocently.

"Now?"

"Well, there's no one to bother us. We could do anything we wanted." She offered suggestively as she ran her hand over his bare chest.

He looked up into those laughing eyes and understood exactly what she meant. "Yeah. Let's go." He grinned, getting out of bed and into his suit—almost as quickly as she did. They grabbed each other's hand and ran downstairs and into the pool house.

Harry just dove in and came up next to Mione as she used the steps. "Come here." He growled as he pulled her all the way in and up against his chest. He began to kiss her fervently as he reached up to undo her bikini top.

**HP**

Later as they laid in bed curled up as tightly as possible, Mione said softly, "I love you so much Harry. I can't wait to start our life together."

"Me neither, Mione. I love you more than I ever thought possible." He murmured as he fell asleep.

** HP**

For the first time in 10 weeks, Harry did not get up to Teddy crying. Instead, he woke up to a pressure being placed on his chest. He opened his eyes to find Teddy dressed but asleep curled up on him. Looking around, he saw Dora standing there smiling.

She whispered, "He wouldn't calm down until we were on our way here and fell asleep the minute he was on your chest."

He smiled at the boy he was starting to see as his son. His hair was the light brown of his father. His eyes, when they opened, were the chocolate brown of Dora's for a second until they matched Harry's and his hair became jet black. Harry loved when Teddy instinctively decided to look like him.

"Okay little man. Time to get up, I guess." He whispered as Dora left the room and Harry got dressed.

Eventually, he and Teddy arrived in the kitchen to see Dobby whirling around preparing food. "Hey there Dobby. Sorry I didn't get up earlier." He apologised as he was given a mug of hot chocolate.

"Do not apologise Harry Potter Sir. I like making breakfast." He smiled.

"So, how are you doing these days, Dobby?"

"I'm fine. I am going to lessons with Mitzy about my speaking and I'm taking care of my family. I am happy." He grinned.

"Should Nev and I be talking about an elf wedding yet?" Harry teased his friend.

Dobby stopped and looked at Harry. "Elves don't marry because they are usually related to other elves in the home."

"Then how do you mate?" Harry asked.

"Our owners usually make deals to have us mate with elves from other families. The first elfling is usually kept by the mum's family. The second by the da's."

"Well, if you like we can arrange something so you both might serve both houses and live and work together. I'm sure something can be arranged so you can live as a family." Harry concluded. At that Dobby perked up. "You like Mitzy, don't you?" Harry laughed as Dobby's entire body went Weasley red. "Well, let us know, yeah?"

"Of course, Harry Potter Sir." Dobby replied as he went back to work.

"Who exactly does Dobby like?" Nev asked as he came in.

"Mitzy." Harry grinned as Nev laughed.

"Well, we'll have to figure something out so they can be a family when they decide." Nev knew this would happen when he was told about the lessons from Dobby. He just wasn't sure how to deal with it. _Better talk to Gran and Sirius_, he thought amusedly at the idea of Gran having to deal with the very independent Dobby. For an old lady, she was very progressive but Nev was unsure how she'd respond to _this_. The Gran from before the battle would have arranged a typical agreement with Sirius. However, the Gran that was listening to Harry and Mione might do something different and new.

"Nev, you want to go to Three Broomsticks for lunch today—just us?" Harry asked.

"No girls?"

"No. I need some advice and they can't hear."

"Sure then." Nev grinned. He had an inkling of what Harry wanted to talk about but didn't want to ask in case he was wrong.

"Hey guys." Sirius greeted as he sat down at the table.

"Hey Pads." Harry acknowledged with what the family had begun calling his 'thinking face' evident to everyone.

After breakfast, Harry decided to go for a ride. Maybe he'd think better in the sky. Before he left, he asked Hermione "When are we going to that musical you want us to see?"

"Next Saturday. We got tickets for the Tonks', us and my parents." She answered. "Why?"

"Just wondering that's all. I'm going flying." He gave Mione a kiss before he left. While out on the property, free to just fly and think, he began thinking about the last few days. While he had been setting up the staff for the orphanage, he had been thinking about his own life—life with the Dursleys, life at Hogwarts, life with Mione. He had come up with the same solution every time. He wouldn't be here if not for Mione. She had stuck with him through everything from the Heir of Slytherin to the Triwizard Tournament to the Horcrux hunt. She was the one constant in his life and he couldn't imagine his life without her. So, what to do about it, was the ultimate question.

Did he ask her to marry him now? They were, physically, so young but were so old in experience, he wasn't sure that they were actually too young for this step. Just thinking about this made his head hurt. That's why he needed to talk to someone. He couldn't talk to Sirius because he wouldn't be able to be objective. Harry knew how much Sirius wanted Mione as a legal part of the family. So, he'd talk to Neville. When he finally came to that conclusion, he looked at his watch. It was almost time for lunch so he went inside.

When he hiked up to the game room, he saw the family just sitting around talking.

"Hi Harry. You ready to go out?" Nev inquired.

"Yeah." He reached over and gave Mione a kiss. "I'll see you later love." He and Nev were about to maneuver down the stairs when Teddy cried. Harry went back and took him from Dora. "I promise Teddy, I'll be back soon and we can play then little man." He tickled Ted's feet and handed him back. He left before Teddy could whine.

**HP**

The boys apparated to the Three Broomsticks and went in to get a booth. They ordered from Rosmerta and put up the muffliato charm to keep others from hearing.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Nev asked.

"I have a question for you. How sure are you that Luna is the one?" He asked.

Nev blanched, this was not where he thought this was going. Was Harry getting all 'older brother' on him? He took a deep sigh and decided that honesty was the best policy. "Positive."

"How do you know?"

"I can't imagine my life without her." Nev looked seriously at Harry. "She's the one that calms me down, knows when I need to be left alone, can read me better than anyone else. I just know."

"I've known I was going to marry Mione since we started dating." Harry said contemplatively. "Do you think it's too early to ask Hermione to marry me?" He blurted out.

Nev thought for a few minutes. "Well, when did you want to get married?"

He considered. "I was thinking after we graduate."

Nev smiled, leaning over to slap his back. "Well then, no. I think it's just right. I know you love her and would never hurt her, so I think it's a great idea."

Harry looked relieved like Neville had never seen him. "I'm so glad you think so. I've been worrying about it for a few days now and didn't know if I was rushing things." He laughed and took a deep breath. When he let it out, he asked one of the most important questions of his life. "So, how do I ask?"

"Do you want this to be a private affair between you and her, or do you want the family to witness it?" Nev returned.

They waited until Rosmerta delivered their meal to continue the conversation. "I think I want the family involved." He finally answered as they began to eat.

"Well, I see two possible ways to approach this. First, you could do it at a Sunday dinner. Second, you could do it when we go out to dinner somewhere." Then he paused and said thoughtfully. "What if you did it at the musical Hermione's taking us to?"

"What about going for dessert afterwards and my proposing then?" Harry offered, to which Nev just grinned.

"That's perfect." Nev enthused. "Better watch out Potter. When I want to propose to Luna, I may need your help."

To that, they both laughed. "No problem, mate."

**HP**

That evening was an Alliance Dinner. Consequently, Sirius spent the afternoon in the study reviewing who the Longbottom-Black-Potter Alliance had as members. It seems as though their little Alliance had grown considerably over the last two months.

He chuckled as he looked at the list, remembering how hard Augusta and he had campaigned for each member. Some, such as McGonagall and Weasley, they knew they'd get. However, some, such as Wood, were a lot harder. Although Oliver Wood fought in the Battle, his family was fairly traditional. The Greengrass family was new as an alliance for Longbottom and Potter as well and boy did that take time. In the end, Silas had told Sirius that the reason he joined was not anything he or Augusta did, it was serving on the Awards Committee with Harry and Neville. He believed they could do wonders for their society and he didn't want to miss the chance of influencing them if he could.

Sirius spent a lot of time that afternoon going over everyone's track record of votes and what they knew about each family. Augusta and he had put dossiers together on each of the new and old players in this game of politics. Because Sirius was so absorbed in understanding each family, he did not notice the young men coming home around four.

**HP**

When Nev and Harry got done with lunch, they decided to go to Honeyduke's for their girls. Then they went to Tomes and Scrolls.

"You know, Nev. It might be easier to get them gift cards rather than books, since we can really only guess what they want."

"Yeah. Sounds good. Although probably don't want to do that for their birthdays or Yule."

"Yeah." Harry shivered dramatically. "Don't want to face the look she'd give me if I showed up with a gift card for a special occasion."

When they got home, they found the women of the family in the library, or rather on the balcony outside the library, each with a book in hand. Teddy was in the bouncer happily playing with his fingers and feet. When he saw Harry, he focused on his godfather and stretched out his arms and legs.

"Hi, little man." Harry grinned at his godson as he bent to pick him up.

"Hi Neville." Luna got up to give him a kiss.

"Hi love." He returned as he held her close.

Harry looked down at his beautiful girlfriend as she stood to give him a kiss. "Looks like you've got your hands full." She smiled at Teddy.

**HP**

That evening, Alliance members started arriving at around 6.30. Neville, Luna, Harry, Hermione, Sirius and Augusta waited to greet each member as they exited the floo or apparated in. It took quite a while but the younger folks were very glad to see many of their classmates with the older generation.

When all the greetings were done, everyone went outside to the back patio. As Harry was looking around for his godson, he was tapped on the shoulder. He turned around to see Silas Greengrass with his daughter Daphne. "I don't know if you have formally met my heir Daphne, Lord Potter?"

"No sir." He nodded to Silas as he turned to Daphne and took her hand to kiss it. "It's very nice to make your acquaintance Heiress Greengrass. I have heard my girlfriend Hermione tell me how smart and honest you are at school. Welcome to my home." He smiled, noting that the manners lessons with Gran paid off as Daphne looked a little surprised at his formal greeting.

"Thank you, Lord Potter. I look forward to getting to know you. As Hermione is probably the only Gryff I know and like well, I anticipate we will get along once we get to know each other. Quite frankly, I am surprised it took the two of you so long to get together. We all thought until fourth year that you two would end up together." She laughed as Harry turned beet red.

"Well, she's the one who admitted to me how she felt. Honestly, I had always loved her but was so scared of losing her as a friend that I didn't even think it. That is until she told me how she felt the afternoon after the battle." He smiled softly as he remembered their first kiss.

Daphne just shook her head and laughed. "Sounds like a guy."

"Hey Harry." Dora moaned as she came up to him with a crying Teddy. "Here. I can't stop him. He's been fed, nappied and shouldn't be tired. Maybe you'll work." She handed him off to Harry. Teddy looked up at his raven-haired godfather and changed his looks to match as he stopped crying.

"He's a Metamorph?" Daphne asked

"Yes. He's Harry's godson. And right now, Harry is the only person that can truly calm him down." Dora grinned at the flummoxed look on the young girl's face. "My name's Dora Lupin." She reached out and shook Daphne's hand.

As both turned to check on Harry and Teddy, Daphne gasped. "He really loves that boy, doesn't he? You can see it on his face."

"Yeah." Dora smiled as the boys moved off to talk to others as Dora asked, "So how are you doing these days?"

As Harry left Dora and Daphne, his waist was attacked. He looked down to see Devon giving him a hug and laughed. "Hey there Dev."

"Hey Harry. I saw Neville. He seemed to be stuck with a _girl_ though." He replied disgustedly.

"Hey! That girl is my friend Luna." Harry laughed as they went to talk to others. Eventually, the buffet started and everyone came together to sit at the tables.

After dinner, Sirius got up and stood where everyone could see him. He noticed they might have a problem since they had a lot more people at this gathering.

"Okay. First off, we need to introduce all the new Alliance Members. If you are new please state your name and what house you're with." He sat down.

Minerva stood up and Harry could see her putting on her Professor look. "I'm Minerva McGonagall and am sitting on the McGonagall seat. This is my brother Robert who you will most likely be dealing with." She pointed to a red-haired man.

"Thanks for going first Minnie." Sirius laughed as she gave him her famous stare that had cowed many students. "Oh Minnie, you love me." He grinned as they both sat down.

Others stood. Arthur and Bill Weasley, Xeno and Luna Lovegood, Alex and Katie Bell, Dora and Teddy Lupin, and Hermione all stood and introduced themselves.

"Okay. Now that that's done, we need to talk about which goals we've actually accomplished and what we need to do." He gave everyone a printout of the goals. "We've actually accomplished two of the five goals. First, getting more diversity on the Wizengamot and second, evening out the hiring guidelines. My question is, do we want to add to this list or keep on working until we get all these met?"

"I say we keep working." Bill offered.

"I agree." came several voices.

"Let's vote on it." Harry stood as he spoke. "All those in favor of keeping the goals as they are for now, raise your wand."

A majority came up. "Good." Sirius grinned. "Now the next issue I'd like to propose is that we change these meetings to the Saturday _before_ the monthly session. That way we can all talk about what will happen that week."

A majority vote was taken. After that, they talked about bringing a bill to insist Wizengamot meet every Thursday for the rest of the year.

"I've had several new members complain that it's ridiculous to meet once a month." Lord Abbott explained. "While muggle government bodies meet every day, we're a much smaller community so we don't need to meet daily but we need to meet more than we are." He took a breath. "I was also told that, while each Wizengamot member has served on at least three committees, that is not law. I think we should propose that law."

"What are the committees that we are to serve on?" Arthur asked.

"There are several." Sirius said, handing out another paper. "Here's the list: Budget/ Appropriations, Creature Liaison which has been a joke and has been replaced, Foreign Affairs, Finance, Heath, Education, Muggle Relations, Small Business Regulations and Transportation." Taking another deep breath, he commented, "I think there are enough members for there to be at least three members on each committee. Has any new member been advised about which committee they are on?"

He got a lot of head shaking in return. "I know that Chief Marchbanks is working on it now." Charles said. "I think she's going to have us submit names like she did for our presentations. We should have at least one member of our alliance on each committee."

They spent the rest of the evening deciding who would volunteer for what. At around ten, Harry noticed his godson starting to nod off so he put him to bed. When he got up, he noticed all the girls giving him weird looks. _Is it really so strange that I'm taking care of my godson? _He thought.

When he came back downstairs, he observed several people leaving. Most of the women were giving him those looks again. Finally, the family ended up in the game room.

"What were those looks people were giving me?" He asked. The response was loud laughter. When it continued, he got angry. "What'd I do wrong?"

"Nothing Harry." Dora said through her laughter. "Girls are just generally drawn to men with babies. They think you're a good catch." She explained.

He looked at Mione. "I'm already caught. And they should know that!"

"Yes." Luna agreed. "But they can still dream."

He just shook his head.

**HP**

The next few days were very quiet for the family. Sunday, they had a family dinner. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, the men hired a Head of Dining, Librarian, and Dormitories.

The Head of Dining was a chef at a fine restaurant in Diagon Alley named Celeste Beasley who was widowed with a five-year-old. The Head Librarian was a man named Julian Stokes who had a two-year-old. His wife disappeared during the war-she was muggleborn. The Head of Dormitories was Arwen Baines a single woman with no kids.


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N Sorry I missed last week. I started my student teaching this week and was a little stressed. While this week has been VERY hectic, I'm hoping things will calm down soon. One of you brilliant readers has offered to beta for me, so hopefully the chapters will get a little better soon. I'm uploading today and this weekend sometime to make up for not uploading last week. Thanks for all your reviews and comments, I really appreciate it.**

**Ch. 22**

**23 July 1998**

On Thursday, everyone was aware that they had to be at Wizengamot that afternoon to talk about Creature Laws. For Nev and Harry, it was like any other day. They went to Gringotts and interviewed the Head of the Nursery Wing of LAR. He was a married half-blood with twin newborn daughters. He was Madam Pince's cousin's son.

"Why do you want this job Jacen?" Harry asked.

"Before the war, I helped my mum run a preschool in Upper Flagley for wizard kids. I got married right before Voldemort came back. The preschool, and my mum, were destroyed by Death Eaters. I need to start over and what better way than helping orphans. Besides I've got twin newborn girls, Ellie and Jude, at home right now and they could do with growing up outside of town."

"How old are they?" Nev inquired.

"Three-and-a-half-months-old." He grinned.

"My godson just turned three-months last week." Harry grinned back, both very proud of their kids. Nev didn't even have to discuss it with Harry. They knew they wanted Jacen.

**HP**

That afternoon, they went to Wizengamot to listen and vote on the Creature Laws that were being proposed. It was fascinating for Harry to watch his godfather talk all these people into dropping most of the discriminatory laws towards werewolves, goblins, merpeople, and centaurs. The power and conviction Sirius spoke with had an effect on everyone there. Harry was blown away when Sirius began talking about dropping the mandatory registration of werewolves. He spoke so eloquently that he had everyone spellbound.

By the end of the night, all discriminatory laws were struck from the record. Of course, no new rights were given to these magic users, but Sirius felt he'd accomplished what he'd set out to do.

**HP**

That night, they came home excited and joyful. When Dobby came to collect cloaks, Harry murmured to him, "Could you make some kind of dessert tonight? We got a lot of laws repealed today."

"Of course, Master Harry. Did you get the Werewolf Registration repealed?" He asked curiously.

"Yes, we did." Harry grinned at the elf as he followed the family upstairs where Andi was playing with her grandson.

"So, how'd it go?" She asked.

"Very well." Mione supplied as she sat on Harry's lap. "We didn't get to the laws we want but we got all the rubbish where it belongs-in the bin."

"Mum, Wolfie could be hired at Hogwarts if he'd wanted to." Dora handed Ted to Harry as she sat next to Andi and started to cry. "That's all he wanted Mum. To help kids learn. If he'd survived, he'd be able to now."

"He would be so proud that you're making such a difference love." Andi confirmed through her own sadness. She may not have at first understood Dora's infatuation with the older man but she had succumbed to his quiet charm—and missed him dearly.

"Remus would've been proud of you too Sirius." Mione offered as she thought of the month they'd spent at Grimmauld after Bill's wedding. "You were his brother in any way that mattered and he predicted you'd do this for him after the war."

"He did?" Sirius, Harry and Dora queried.

"Yes. We had a debate about what would happen after the war." She smiled at the memory. "He told me that somehow you'd take the Lordship and change the laws."

"Bloody hell! I wasn't even sure I'd do it." He shook his head. "Doesn't surprise me. He always believed the best of people."

"Yes, he did." Andi concurred. "We're still on for dinner at six on Saturday, then dessert after Phantom, yeah?" She asked as she stood up.

"Yes. We'll meet at the restaurant at six." Harry confirmed a little nervously, knowing what he was going to do at dessert.

"Great. We'll see you there." She waved as she left the game room to go home. Dora turned on the stereo and played some Beatles. Teddy began shaking his hands in time to the music as Nev and Harry started playing pool. A few minutes later, Dan and Emma showed up for dinner.

"Hey sweetheart." Dan gave Hermione a hug. "How'd your day go?"

"It went great Daddy. We repealed all the prejudice laws that had been passed. However, we didn't get to new laws put in place."

"Those will come, Hermione. That may take more time that you all think it will." Dan replied.

"Why?"

"Because from what you tell us about your government, they are a lot more set in their ways than our world."

"Sirius, how much money does the government have in its coffers?" Hermione asked.

"I'm not sure. Why?"

"You might want to ask Gran. She's on the budget committee." Nev offered.

"I wonder if she could give us an overview of how the committees work on a regular basis and how they've changed and how it can be more efficient?" Harry queried.

"I can talk to her about it for Monday." Sirius replied.

"Thanks. I'd like to understand how all these committees and new laws are going to be implemented." Harry smiled as they went to dinner.

They ate dinner and celebrated with an apple pie for dessert. The family then spent more time just talking and enjoying each other's company. When the girls went to bed, Nev and Harry stayed up a little later to play another game of pool.

"So, are you really going to ask Hermione on Saturday?" Nev asked.

"Yeah." Harry smirked. "I'm scared out of my mind but I'm going to do it."

Nev snickered. "So, do you have a plan?"

"Well, Sirius made both pre and post theatre reservations at Rowley's. I think that I'll do it at dessert after the musical. I'm just going to go with my gut after that." Harry grinned.

**HP**

On Friday, Harry woke up with Teddy and got him ready for the day. They were down in the kitchen cooking breakfast when Sirius came in. He sat down at the island and looked at his godson. He knew something had been weighing on the raven-haired teen lately and had determined to see if he'd seek Sirius' help. However, Harry had become much quieter this last week and Sirius was worried.

"Hey pup." He smiled. "What's up? You've been quiet this week. Is something wrong?"

"No." was all he got from the young man as he kept cooking.

"Come on. You can tell me."

"There's nothing wrong Padfoot. We're just doing a lot of hiring this week. I'm looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow. We've been going out there almost every afternoon and they're nearly a third done. It's weird to see it all coming together."

"Yeah. I can imagine." Sirius shut down for a few minutes, then began playing with Teddy. Harry inwardly sighed at the fact that Sirius gave up on his questions. Harry couldn't tell him that he was worried about proposing-Sirius couldn't keep that secret if he _wanted_ to—and he'd want to tease!

**HP**

That day, Harry was in a haze. He knew they hired the Head of Hospital Wing-Madam Pomfry's nephew Jacob. Venus was making comments about the staff looking a lot like Hogwarts. He also knew that Hermione and Luna had successfully made a washing machine run entirely on magic. They had taken out the electronics in Molly's washer and dryer and instead charmed it to work the same way. On Friday, the girls had finally washed several loads of laundry with these new machines.

Everyone arrived home at around 11.30 on Friday. They came into a house that was filled with Beatles music. Over the last month or so, they had become accustomed to this. It turned out that Dora, Sirius and by extension Remus were all Beatles fans. Although you could say that Sirius was a bigger Led Zeppelin fan.

That day, the boys arrived home to the sound of Eleanor Rigby. "Hey, I wonder if this is where Jacen got the names for his girls?" Harry looked at his best mate with one eyebrow cocked.

"Isn't there another song named Hey Jude too?" Nev pondered as they walked up to the game room.

"Yeah. Must be where he got the names."

"Hey boys." Dora said as she was dancing with Teddy.

"Hey yourself. Have you seen our girls?"

"Yes Nev. They're in the kitchen I think." Dora answered. "So, are you done filling the Head positions at the orphanage?"

"Yep." Harry grinned. "Our part is done. Venus now takes over the organization and implementation of these roles. Celeste will start hiring elves for the kitchens. Arwen will start hiring elves for housekeeping. Jacen will start hiring assistants for the nursery. Julian will start buying books and Jacob will be setting up the Hospital Wing. April has already hired Deputies for the Primary and Secondary school."

"Basically, our job now is to hire the Head of the Nursery and Dairy portion of the farm and find the kids to move in. And honestly, there's only one person to ask for the nursery and I think he'll do it. I set up the interview for Tuesday." Nev added.

"You really like this bloke, don't you?" Harry asked.

"He's the only person my entire childhood that thought I was good at something." Nev agreed. "And he's got this way with plants that even Professor Sprout doesn't have. He's brilliant!"

"You'll like working with him I take it?"

Nev just nodded enthusiastically.

**HP**

The next day was Saturday. THE BIG DAY. The day Harry was going to ask the love of his life to marry him. He woke up, for the final time that night, with Teddy at six o'clock.

"Hey Tedster. How's my little man this morning? You ready to be left with Dobby tonight? I hope so because I'll be proposing to your Aunt Hermione tonight. Boy I hope she says yes." He muttered as he fed the little man. "I don't know what I'll do if she says no." He turned Teddy to his shoulder to burp as he walked down stairs to make breakfast.

As the two were making breakfast, Dan and Emma came into the kitchen. "Hey Harry." Dan grinned. "Looking forward to tonight?"

"Yeah." He responded as he kept his eyes on the food. Pretty soon everyone came into the kitchen and began eating. They spent the rest of the day just lounging around the house. Harry checked the desk drawer at least three times that day to make sure the engagement ring was in place.

At about four, all four women, Dora, Mione, Luna and Emma went to Dora's room to get changed. All four men were still up in the game room playing pool or darts.

"Why is it girls need to get dressed two hours early?" Harry inquired of the older men.

"I have no idea Harry." Dan returned laughing. "But whatever they do for that time, it makes them look amazing."

"Yeah. You should've seen Mione at the Yule Ball." He grinned. At around five, the men went up to shower and dress.

When Harry was finished getting into Khakis and a button-down green shirt with dress shoes, he went to the kitchen where Dobby was feeding Teddy. "So, Dobby, how're you doing tonight?"

"I am fine Master Harry. I am looking forward to having Teddy all to myself tonight." He smiled at the baby.

"Hello, Hello." Sirius said in the entryway.

"Sirius, we're in here." Harry projected his voice as his godfather stepped in.

"Dan and Nev should be here shortly." He grinned at his godson. A few minutes later, all the men were standing at the bottom of the stairs as they watched their ladies arrive.

Harry was amazed at the way Mione looked. She had on a floor-length navy-blue dress that had a surplice neckline that was lower than he expected. Her arms were bare and her makeup was barely there. "Wow!" he breathed as Mione came to him. She giggled as he gave her a kiss. "You look beautiful, Mione. Absolutely beautiful."

"Look at Luna." She whispered to Harry as he looked over. He was astounded at the way her yellow dress just floated around her. Then his eyes fell on Emma, who looked very much like an older Hermione—which meant she looked amazing. Dora was in a deep purple dress with hair to match.

"All of you look amazing." Harry said as he wrapped his mind around how beautiful Mione looked.

Soon they were sitting at a table at Rowley's enjoying a good meal with the whole family plus Andi and Ted. It was when Sirius ordered Lobster and Salmon Fishcakes that everyone started relaxing and talking about their projects.

"So, Harry. I understand you have hired everyone you need for the departments in the Orphanage. Is Venus taking over now?" Ted asked.

"Yes. She is now in charge of the day to day running and hiring of the place. We'll be meeting every Friday, at least until school starts, to see how things are going. We're also going to start working on getting the list of orphans together so we can see who our students will be."

The waiter came back and took their orders. Harry had the Gourmet Burger and Hermione ordered the Duck.

"What are you women doing while they've been off doing that?" Andi inquired.

"We have been buying books for our library and organising it." Hermione began

"We've also been working on a magical way to index all the books and be able to pull the books up on what we're calling an Omni-Reader." Luna added.

"What does an Omni-Reader do?" Andi asked.

"It's a very simple concept." Emma explained, as she had been integral to the development of this idea. "We've bought a lot of books for the PB Library."

"What's the PB Library?" Sirius asked, very confused.

"The Potter-Black Library. The library up on Dora's floor?" Emma looked at the relief on his face. "With the fact that you've given my bookworm of a daughter an unlimited budget for your library, it already has thousands of books."

"Really? It's that big?" Sirius was surprised.

"Yes. You really shouldn't have given her that credit card." Emma and Dan laughed as Mione became red. "You really should've asked us before you let her do this. We know she can bankrupt The Queen if she wanted to, just on book purchases alone."

The waiter came with their food. Harry and Hermione were sharing their food as were most of the other couples.

"When someone saves your life at least three times, a library is absolutely nothing." Sirius was adamant.

"It doesn't hurt that Sirius loves your girl almost as much as Harry." Andi laughed. "So, what's an Omni-Reader?" She asked again.

"Well, there are so many books right now, we have developed an index system. We have these very light, thin pads, sort of like the data pads in Star Trek. You write in what kind of book you want or the name of the book, or the author's name and it tells you where it is located in the library and draws you a map from your present position to the given book." Emma explained.

"Does it have a keyboard like a computer?" Ted asked.

"No. It has what's called a stylus that is like a pen." Mione answered. "They have some similar things in the muggle world called PDA's or Personal Data Assistants. It's handheld and you can receive e-mail, keep a calendar, that sort of thing. Our device is a simple piece of glass with a piece of rubber around the edges to protect your hands. All the spellwork or runes are on the glass itself."

"So, you guys are now taking ideas from the muggle world and spelling them rather than actually buying them and then spelling them." Ted was surprised they'd thought of that.

"Yes. We're actually working on scanning books into the computer and spelling them into the Omni-Reader, so you don't have to be in the library to read a book." Luna expanded.

By this time, everyone was finished with their food. Sirius looked at his watch. "Well, it's half seven, I think we should apparate to the theatre. Mione, please take Nev and I so we can come back for the others." he smiled at his niece.

"Sure, Uncle Sirius." She grinned as they disapparated and came back a minute later.

Sirius grabbed Andi's hand when she said. "I know where it is. We've been there once or twice."

Sirius laughed. "Okay then." They got into their pairings. Sirius took Dora and Dan, Nev took Emma and Luna, Hermione took Harry and the Tonks' went on their own.

"You know, apparition may be faster but it is hell on your stomach." Dan shook his head.

"Yeah. I've always hated it. Dumbledore told me I'd get used to it but I still don't like it." Harry agreed. As they walked into the playhouse, Harry couldn't stop looking at his girlfriend. All through dinner, he'd been listening to her talk about her new project but since he knew all about it, he just sat there staring thinking _if she says yes tonight, I'll have this beauty on my arm for the rest of my life_.

As they were taking their seats, he noticed several men checking her out. His hand went to hers and his other arm went around her waist. "You look amazing Hermione." He whispered in her ear as the musical started.

Every magical there started when the music went from extremely soft to extremely loud. The only ones who didn't were Hermione and her parents and the Tonks'.

Since they were in orchestra seating, the magicals also ducked their heads when the chandelier came down on the stage as it came right above them. As they went to the lobby at Intermission, Nev asked, "How do they do that without magic? Are you sure there's no magic involved?"

Mione laughed. "I'm sure there is no magic. Everything is done with ropes and pulleys and electronics."

"This is another one of those things like Star Wars, yeah?" Luna asked. "Where you just don't see how it's done but it's done well?"

"Exactly, Luna." Emma agreed, glad the magicals was finally understanding.

"Can we see another one before you go back to school?" Sirius asked. "This is fascinating."

Mione beamed at her new Uncle, glad he was enjoying himself. "Of course, Uncle Sirius."

**HP**

After Phantom of the Opera, everyone apparated back to Rowley's. "I feel so bad for the Phantom." Luna said.

"Me too." Added Harry. "He didn't deserve to be treated so horribly."

"But he was a murderer." Dan added.

"Yes, but he didn't know how to act around other humans." Harry countered as they were seated. They continued talking about Phantom until they ordered their dessert.

Nev had positioned himself next to Harry in case he needed "encouragement". After they ordered dessert, Nev gave Harry a hit in the ribs. Harry just turned and glared at him.

Harry clinked his glass with his fork and everyone quieted down. He stood up, brought out the pouch with the rings and got down on one knee in front of his beloved and stared into her chocolate eyes. "Hermione, for seven years now you've been with me through everything. Trolls, possessed teachers, being shunned in 2nd and 4th year, having a deranged psycho-killer after me," everyone laughed as Sirius went red as Hermione started crying. "Dragons, death eaters and war. I know we've had some rough times and it's taken us forever to get here but I love you more now than I ever thought was humanly possible. Will you marry me, my beloved?"

She wiped at her eyes with her left hand, as he was holding her right. She then took his face in her hands and looked into his eyes. "Yes, my love." She said as they kissed and everyone in the restaurant clapped and whistled. When they parted, Harry took her left hand in his and slid the emerald ring on her finger.

"Oh, my gods!" Sirius nearly brought the house down. "Where'd you find that? That was your mum's. I went and bought it with your dad!"

Harry finally looked away from his fiancée and said. "In my vault."

"They must have gone there right before they went into hiding." Sirius whispered, in shock.

"I didn't know it was my mum's." He looked worriedly at Mione. "Do you still want it?" He asked nervously as he sat back in his chair.

"Of course, I want it. It's beautiful and it is the same colour as your eyes." She leaned over and kissed him as she gently caressed his face.

"That's what James said when he found the emerald." Sirius laughed as he pulled Hermione into a hug. "Welcome to the family officially, love."

Hermione looked over at her parents. Her dad looked shocked and hadn't said a thing "Are you angry Daddy?" she asked softly.

"Angry?! I'm not angry, I'm, I don't know, realising you're not my baby girl anymore and it's somebody else's job to protect you." He gave her a hug. "You've got a good man. Just remember he's got an even better lady." At that all the men chuckled and Harry nodded his head fervently.

"I know Dan." He smiled at his soon to be father-in-law.

Dan just slapped Harry on the back saying, "Take care of my baby Harry."

"I will." They looked over at Emma and Hermione who were hugging and crying together.

Emma took her daughter in her arms and said, "If you need anything my girl, just let us know. We love you so much and we will no matter what."

Soon both Harry and Hermione were being hugged by everyone. When dessert came, they were presented with a brownie each that said 'Congratulations' when it was all put together.

Hermione didn't eat a thing. She just kept staring at her hand. Her ring was absolutely exquisite. The large marquise cut emerald was inlaid. The gold band it was laid in was actually in a twisted rope style.

"The reason the emerald is inlaid is that Lily had a habit of banging her fingers on walls and doors. James didn't want the emerald to get hit and have it come off." Sirius whispered to her. "And the twisted rope was a nod to their lives finally intertwining as James put it 'after so bloody long'."

Hermione looked up and smiled at her Uncle. "Thank you, Uncle."

"There are matching wedding bands for both of you too."

"Is Harry's a twisted rope too?" she asked inquisitively.

"Yes."

"So, when are you going to actually get married?" Andi inquired smiling.

"Not sure." Hermione mumbled still staring at the ring, not believing the fact that the most amazing man in the world would want to marry her. "I can't believe he wants me, so I haven't thought any farther than that." She giggled.

"Why wouldn't he want you? You two are made for each other." Nev was confused.

"Why would such a loving, selfless, kind, unbelievably sexy guy like him want a bucktooth bookworm that would rather spend her time inventing new things than playing quidditch like me?" She looked up at Nev to see the entire table staring at her.

"You mean I get to marry an intelligent, loyal, caring and most beautiful woman in the world, right?" Harry looked at her and played with her ring. "Bookworm, and inventor are not put downs—they are part of who my love is. That's what makes you, you. And I happen to love you because you are an amazing woman."

A few minutes later, after lots of hugs, they apparated home. After giving her daughter a kiss through her tears, Emma and Dan floo'd home.


	23. Chapter 23

**Ch. 23**

**26 July 1998**

The next day was Family Sunday. The Weasley's (except Ron) and their significant others, Augusta, Xeno, Andi, Ted, Minerva and Brianna all showed up. The news of the events last night spread like fiendfyre. Harry was getting sad looks from the twins, delighted squeals from Molly along with a rib-cracking hug, pats on the back from most of the men with a 'Welcome to the Club' speech. What was most interesting was the long, emotional hug Augusta gave him.

"Are you okay Gran?"

"Yes. I just can't believe one of my boys is getting married. Your parents would be so proud of you. And they would adore Hermione. She and Lily and Alice are three peas in a pod." She looked into the man's, who should've been her grandson, eyes and was amazed at the strength behind them.

Harry didn't know what to say so he just took her in another hug as they both silently wept for the time stolen from them.

Meanwhile, most of the women were seated on the terrace talking about plans.

"Hermione, dear, why don't you seem to have more in mind about when and where you'll be doing this?" Molly asked, concern on her face.

Hermione took a deep sigh. "Well, let's see. He proposed around 11 last night. We came home and promptly dropped into bed nearly fully clothed. This morning, he woke up with Teddy and we haven't really had the time to talk today. We probably won't be getting married until next summer anyway, so we have plenty of time."

"You could get married at the Burrow if you wanted?" Molly offered.

"I think we might get married at one of the Potter properties or at the orphanage. It's really beautiful there." Hermione didn't want to get married at the Brrow. She remembered how horrible Bill and Fleur's wedding was (or at least the run up to it) but she couldn't exactly tell her no-it would hurt her feelings.

"I'm sure Augusta would let you do it at Longbottom Estates." Luna proposed.

"Yeah. That might work." Hermione nodded.

At dinner that evening, Hermione and Harry were sitting together. "We really need to decide on a date." Mione groaned softly to Harry. "I'm getting hit from all sides on our wedding. Mum is even getting into the action."

That night, everyone left by half seven and the family went up to the game room. Harry's family had expanded by leaps and bounds since the end of the war and sometimes it took him by surprise how much he loved it. It amazed him that so many people loved him when he'd never been loved before.

First, there were Hermione his love and Sirius, his uncle/dad. Then Dora, his older sister/ aunt, and Teddy, his godson. Next, there were his siblings Neville and Luna. There was also Gran. And of course, his other parental type figures Dan and Emma.

To him, when he started thinking of The Family, he thought of those that lived in the house. So that night, it was The Family plus Emma and Dan.

As Sirius and Dan were playing pool against Harry and Nev, the women of The Family were talking weddings.

"Luna, you'll be my Maid of Honor, yeah?" Mione asked.

Luna smiled happily and nodded enthusiastically as she shot up to give Mione a hug. "I'd love nothing more."

As they sat down, Mione asked, "Dora, you'll be my bridesmaid yeah?"

"I'd love to." She smiled wickedly. "That means we plan the bachelorette party Luna!" Both women high-fived as Mione looked nervously at them.

"Wait! I want to help plan it too!" Emma whined.

"Of course, Em. The more the merrier!" Dora agreed.

As Mione and Harry were getting ready for bed, Mione said, "You better ask your groomsmen because I've already got two bridesmaids."

He looked over at her. "Who?"

"Luna and Dora." She grinned.

"Makes sense," he returned as he got into bed next to his fiancée. "Guess I better ask Nev and Sirius." He chuckled. "Don't know which will be best man though."

Mione picked up her latest book as she said. "You might want to ask Nev since Luna's going to be my Maid of Honor."

Harry nodded. "Good idea. When do you want to get married?"

"I'd say in August of next year. What do you think?"

"I think that's great. If were going for our masteries in History and Defence, we'll need to be back by September 1st." He laid his head on her shoulder as they enjoyed just being together.

**HP**

The next morning, as Harry and Teddy were making breakfast, Sirius and Nev came in. Thinking this was the perfect time, Harry asked, "Guys, I wanted to know if you would both stand up with me at my wedding, yeah?"

Nev got a huge grin on his face, "Of course. I'd be honored." He slapped Harry on the shoulder as Harry looked to his godfather.

"You mean that kid?" he was shocked.

"Yes, I mean it. Would you?" He asked a little hesitantly.

Sirius just stared at this young man. _How did he go from the toddler who used to ride on Padfoot to a grown adult about to get married?_ Sirius wondered. "I'd be honored." Sirius said as his voice broke. "Your dad would be so proud of you Prongslet."

"I hope so."

**HP**

"Hey Gran." Nev said as he came out of the fire. "I'm going to be Harry's best man."

"I could see that coming from a kilometer away." She smiled as she hugged him. She looked at her other grandson and granddaughter-in-law. "You know, you can get married here if you would like."

"Thanks Gran." Harry smiled. "We're considering it."

Augusta led them to the sitting room. "So today we are going to talk about how the government is actually run." She got a notepad out and made three copies of a list. "Now, you'll notice that there are seven main departments in the ministry. These seven are comprised of all the smaller departments within them. For instance, the DMLE encompasses the Auror Office and the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office. Each smaller office has a budget that is part of the budget for the larger Department. Arthur submits his proposed budget to the DMLE head, as each of her smaller departments do. Then, when she comes up with an overall budget, it is submitted to the Budget Committee in the Wizengamot. They decide how much of that budget Amelia will get and submit it to the whole Wizengamot for a vote."

"Do you have an equivalent of the HMRC?" Hermione asked.

"What is that?"

"Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs office. These are the people who collect taxes and decide how much money the government has."

"No. Our government does not tax the working folks directly. The government runs on donations from the pureblood faction. That way they get to decide where and what the money goes to." She looked disgusted. "My father-in- law and your grandfather Potter tried to spread the taxes out over all of wizarding Britain but got nowhere. They campaigned that if we had a more even spread of taxes—taxing everyone according to how much they made each year, everyone would feel more represented. One of our greatest weaknesses is that the everyday wizard doesn't care about what we do here. That's because, as Fleamont constantly said, nothing ever came out of Wizengamot to help everyday wizards. What came out always helped the pureblood faction. It's true. I've been fighting for years to get a more unbiased way to collect and distribute taxes."

"And my dad would give me lessons every summer that the government was run for and by the purebloods and you, Augusta were the bane of his existence!" Sirius chuckled.

"Quite." Augusta looked at Sirius sardonically.

"We have the power now in Wizengamot." Harry threw out. "Can we change at least how taxes are taken in to make it more fair for everyone?"

Sirius and Augusta looked at each other for a minute. "Do we think we have enough votes for something like that?" Sirius asked Augusta.

"I can talk to some of the more neutral families, if you can talk to our alliance, Sirius?"

"I can do that. It may take a while because we'll have to come up with a valid plan we can all agree on." He grinned at Augusta.

"We might also try to make the Minister more than a rubber stamp machine." Harry suggested. "If the post had more power and was voted into office directly by the people, we'd have a minister that was more than the puppet that Fudge was."

"Boy, you just want to change the world, don't you kid?" Sirius laughed at his godson going Weasley red.

"Sirius Black!" Augusta admonished as the younger man imitated his godson. "These are very good, valid ideas. We should all be thinking this way."

Harry grinned at his godfather, who looked a little intimidated. "Are you scared of Gran, Sirius?" He, Nev, Hermione, Luna and Augusta all burst out laughing when Sirius nodded fervently.

"You have to understand Harry. This is not the same woman Frankie used to talk about. That woman would never burst out laughing. She was strict and, well, formidable was the term I heard most often from Fleamont."

"He's right Harry." Nev grinned at the woman who raised him. "The Gran from before the battle was much more formidable—I like that word for her—than the Gran you know. I like this Gran loads better by the way." He reached over and hugged her.

"Maybe it's because the bitch who took away my Frank, and by extension my Gerald, is gone from this earth!" She growled as she thought of how Gerald aged so dramatically after Frank and Alice were hurt. "I'm just grateful Molly was able to do it."

"So, the departments never get the actual budget they want out of Wizengamot, is that right?" Hermione asked, trying to bring the conversation back.

"That's correct. From talking to Amelia, I'd say she gets about three-quarters of what she asks for. I understand she now pads her budget request and usually gets almost what she needs." Augusta explained.

"The more I learn about this, the more I see that our government works more like muggle governments in the 18th and 19th centuries." Hermione grumbled. "Everyone's making the government work for the wealthy, or in our case the purebloods, who are a small percentage of the population. Meanwhile, everybody else scrounges in unsafe work environments with little pay. This philosophy went out the window a century ago." Hermione sighed. "Somehow we've got to get the people to care about what goes on in the government and to want a say in it."

"Yes, but we have to do it a bit at a time, otherwise we'll end up with a mess." Augusta agreed.

"I'm going to do some research on governments around the world and see which one seems to work best. Maybe we can take a little from each and implement it into ours." Hermione said as she bit her lip and thought through what she needed to do.

**HP**

They went back to the Madhouse for lunch. As they sat down, Mione was still in her thinking mode, so Harry asked, "What are you thinking of love?"

"I was just deciding whether to go to Waterstone's or the library to research this government business."

"Why don't you go to the library and if you find books you like call Waterstone's to see if they have it?" He suggested.

"That's a good idea." She smiled and leaned over to kiss him.

"I'll go with you." Luna offered as they grinned at each other. They really had a good time in bookstores so this shouldn't be any different.

So, after lunch the girls apparated to the Crawly library. Harry spent time playing with and taking care of Teddy while Nev went over the two applicants they were going to interview for the Head of the Nursery. He was almost positive he was going to ask Dirk but wanted a backup in case Dirk didn't want it.

He had found a young man he remembered from Hogwarts a few years ago. William Cason was a seventh year when Neville was in fourth year. He had graduated with O's in the Herbology OWL's and NEWT's.

Later that evening, Hermione and Luna came home with her beaded bag full of books. They took them up to the library and dumped them on three of the large tables there.

**HP**

The next day, they interviewed William Cason and really liked him. He had good instincts when it came to raising plants, was an affable man that just wanted to work with plants again. He was currently working in the apothecary in Hogsmeade to make ends meet.

"Would you be willing to work as the Assistant Head if we chose someone else?" Nev asked.

"Yes. As long as I get out of the retail business." He laughed. William left and the next person in the room was someone Harry hadn't met but Nev had.

Nev went up to the older man and gave him a hug as they began talking as the old friends they were. When Harry joined them, Nev said, "Harry, I'd like you to meet an old family friend and an amazing Herbologist, Dirk Frisbie."

"Hello Mr. Frisbie." He shook hands with the man as they sat. They began catching up with Dirk and how he'd survived the war. Then they started talking about the greenhouses they were planning.

After all the explanations, Dirk smiled at Neville. "So I take it that you're offering me the job?"

Nev looked a little nervous. "I'd really like it to be a success and I know you could do it."

"Well, I s'pose I could elevate Robert to Head of Frisbie Nursery." He said as he thought all the ramifications through. "Yeah. I'll do it. Let me just run it by Helen before I say yes officially." He grinned. "Don't want to make a move without discussing it with the wife first!" He got out his mobile. "Do you blokes have one of these?" He asked.

Harry and Nev just laughed. "Yeah. My fiancée and Nev's girlfriend created them. We got the first two." Harry got out his own phone to put Dirk's number in.

As they were all headed out of Gringotts, they said goodbye and left for home. When they got home, their women were still up in the library sorting the books they'd bought and putting them away. They were also adding them into their Omni-Reader.

**HP**

That afternoon Wizengamot met to have another presentation. It also adopted Neville's Committee of Award Nominees as was. It was decided that they would be awarded at the ball at Hogwarts for the fourth month anniversary of the Battle.

It was a long and trying afternoon and Harry was extremely glad to finally be at home playing with Teddy. After dinner, The Family went upstairs to watch a movie. The girls chose Aladdin to watch. The men just groaned.

Harry looked down at Teddy and said "You'll either grow to love Disney movies or hate them, little man." He smiled. "Is it just me or does Teddy want to do the sleep routine earlier at night, Dora?" He asked as the movie was put in.

"You're right. And his sleep schedule for the day is getting more regular too." She agreed. Then the movie began and Harry knew he wouldn't hear from her for some time.

For most of the movie, Harry and Teddy played. They did tummy-time, playing on the play gym and in the bouncer. Around half nine, Teddy began whining to go to bed. The movie wasn't nearly done, so Harry took Ted downstairs to get ready. After getting him ready, he read a book to him. Dora started doing that a few weeks ago and Harry loved reading to his godson. Of course, Teddy fell asleep towards the end of the book.

**HP**

The next morning at breakfast, The Family plus Emma and Dan were eating together.

"So, what are you doing today pumpkin?" Dan asked.

"Well, we still need to finish putting our current crop of books in the Omni-Reader." She smiled.

"I was wondering, how are you going to produce the Omni-Readers? I mean, if they are just glass and rune and charm work, can you have them done in your shop? Are there wizard glass manufacturers? That way you could cut out the deliveries to here."

"I don't know. I just thought we'd do it the way we've been doing it." She frowned.

"You need a business manager." Emma put in. As she was the one that took care of the business of the dental practice, Hermione was listening carefully. "Do you know of any business people that work in both worlds?"

"No. But Ted might." She jumped up and got her phone out and walked into another room. A few minutes later, Hermione came back bouncing on her toes. "Ted has got three people in mind and wants us at Gringotts at 8." She grinned in excitement.

"Sit down and eat dear." Emma smiled at her daughter. "I would suggest that you form a company that is divided into three. One for the retail side. One for the manufacturing of the inventions and one for the inventions themselves. But it may not work that way in the Wizarding world."

Hermione looked at her watch and bounded up. "Luna are you coming with me?" Then she went still. "Oh Merlin." She looked at Luna who was just grinning.

"Forgot I was a part of this, didn't you?" At the totally embarrassed look on her best friend's face, she started laughing. "I've thought we should do this for a while, so yes I'm coming. There is no way we are going to be able to be a day to day influence in this business, so yes we need a business manager."

She got up and both girls were headed to the floo when Harry yelled out, "Wait for us! We're going to the same place." as he and Nev jumped to leave. Once the teens left all the adults started laughing.

"Is it just me, or are those four hard to keep up with? They seem to go from one subject to another so fast I can't keep up." Sirius complained.

"I know but we're used to it with Hermione." Dan laughed at the stunned look on the non-Grangers in the room.


	24. Ch 24

**Wednesday 29 July 1998**

When both couples had floo'd to Gringotts, Hermione took Harry's hand. All the sudden, she was a little nervous that they were on the wrong path with the company. _Well, nothing left to do but forge ahead,_ she thought.

Although Luna looked like her normal dreamy self, Nev could see she was worried. "Everything will work out, sweetheart. I love you." He murmured to her. She gave him a bright smile and a hug.

"You know just what to say, you know that?" she mumbled into his ear. It was then they heard Harry knocking on Ted's door.

Swordback answered. "Hello everyone. How are you today?" he asked

"Very well, thank you." Hermione and Luna bowed to him. "How is your wife feeling?"

"Tired." Swordback responded. "She is always tired in the beginning of her pregnancies."

"If you don't mind answering, how long is a typical Goblin pregnancy?" Hermione inquired.

"Twelve months." He smiled at the shocked look on the humans' faces. "Here they are Ted." He brought them to the desk.

"We have to go. We have a meeting at 8.15." Harry kissed his fiancée (he loved thinking that) and they left.

"Sit down ladies." Ted offered as they sat at his desk. "From what Hermione told me this morning and the problems I've seen you working on, what you really want is someone who can organise all of the little bits of your enterprise, yeah?"

"Yes. We need someone who, once we've invented something, can mass produce it and market it, without us having to do anything." Luna agreed.

There was a knock at the door and Swordback let them in. It turned out to be Fleur. Both girls looked from Ted to Fleur and back to Ted until Fleur sat at the desk with them.

"I didn't know you were interested in business management?" Hermione asked.

"Yes. It's what I've always wanted. My Papa is a prominent businessman in France and I want to get business experience that I take back to the family businesses." She smiled. "Every Sunday, I bite my tongue because I know you need someone with more experience than Angie running things. But William tells me to wait, so I wait for you to seek out help."

"William should've kept his mouth shut!" Hermione growled almost playfully as the others laughed.

"So, tell me how you've been running the business so far." Fleur suggested, getting out her computer.

"Well, it's really been a fly by the seat of your pants approach." Hermione started. "It started out with simply magicking normal muggle devices to work with magic. We got several prototypes such as the phone and computer. Then we bought other appliances from the muggle world and had our employees rune and charm them to sell in the shop. Then we started using only the cases for things like phones and computers. After taking the electronics out, we then rune and charm them a little differently but get the same result. However, we still have to buy the muggle devices because we have no way to manufacture the cases. That's where our hold-up to becoming an entirely magical company is."

"Well, that in itself can be easily fixed. I know of several magical plastic manufacturers in France and the States. My family owns one in fact." She smiled at the relief on their faces.

"I haven't been able to find any in Britain." Hermione said.

"No. You wouldn't. Britain is about a century behind in the manufacturing sector." She sighed. "For now, we could contract out the plastic or glass manufacture while we build a base here in Britain. Then we can streamline the production of the actual runing and charming of the devices. I know both the Potters and Longbottoms have abandoned factories in their portfolios. We could take one and manufacture plastics and such there. We could also turn part of it into an assembly line for putting the runes and charms on. Then we deliver it to the warehouse in the store." She was typing as she was speaking.

"So how would all this work?" Luna asked as Fleur turned her computer towards them and explained the structure of the new company.

When Fleur was done explaining, Hermione had a much better idea of how business worked and just how bad she'd be at it. "So you think that we can eventually send you the devices that we invent and you can then set them up to be manufactured and sold?" Hermione confirmed.

"It might not be me but someone." She smiled. She really loved these girls. They were both so smart and dedicated to making the world a better place for everyone.

"You'll need a salary. How much are you making here?" Luna asked.

"15000G."

Luna, who had gotten her computer out earlier, looked at the sales numbers Angie had sent her for the first month. "Net income for our first month was 50000G, so we could give you 20000G as a salary. Then use the rest to refurbish and start the manufacturing side of things. That's not including the initial investment Sirius made, which was 100000G. So in reality we have 150000G to play with to get this sorted out." Luna looked up at Fleur. "Will 20000G work?"

"Yes. That will. I know there is an office building not too far from here we could turn into our headquarters. Should I look into renting it?"

"Yes. Rent as much space as you need and hire who you need." Hermione approved.

**HP**

While the girls were hiring Fleur, the boys were hiring a Head for the Dairy. This was actually quite simple because they found a father-son team that had had their own dairy before this last war. It was destroyed by Death Eaters because the owner and his wife were both muggleborn.

After they were done, they decided an ice cream at Fortescue's was in dire need. "Boy am I glad we got all that hiring done before it opened." Harry sighed as he sat down with his cup of ice cream.

"Me too." Nev sighed. "It's hard to believe that we started this a little over a month ago and it will be open less than two months after we first conceived of the idea."

After sitting there quietly for a few minutes, Harry suggested, "We should head home. An updated list of orphans should be at the house sometime in the next few days and I'm interested to see how many there are."

"Sure Harry." Nev said as they disapparated.

**HP**

When Harry got home, he could hear scrambling down the stairs. Looking up, he saw Dora who looked more disheveled than usual. She was carrying a screaming Teddy in her arms. As she saw Harry, her face lit up. "Here ya go." she said, handing her son to his godfather.

"What's wrong?" Teddy just kept crying.

"Cold, I think. He's been fussy and crying all morning. I've been sucking snot out of his nose since soon after you left. Sirius is at the apothecary right now. I'll go move his Moses Basket into your room and I've already stocked up for you." She finished as she turned around and ran back up the steps.

Nev and Harry looked at each other. Harry just rolled his eyes. "Come on little man." He called up the stairs. "Dora, where's the sling?!"

"Be right down with it!" she yelled back.

"Okay. Let's go check your diaper, yeah?" he looked at the tears running down Teddy's face and felt his heart tug again. He really didn't like seeing Teddy sick. "Come on little man. We'll get through this." He took Teddy to his room and checked his diaper, then sat in the rocker with him. "Come on little one. Everything will be okay." He soothed as he began rocking.

It was about a half hour later when Dora brought the Moses Basket and set it up, that they noticed Teddy was asleep. He put Teddy in the basket and they tip-toed out of the room and warded it so sound couldn't get in.

"I hate that he calms for you and not for me." She whined as they went downstairs.

"It's like Sirius says, he feels your worry because you are his mum but I'm more removed from the situation, so he likes me." Harry smirked at Dora as they walked into the kitchen.

Sirius was there with the vials of medicine. "Got it. But he's asleep, isn't he?" Sirius smirked at his godson.

"Yeah. I got him down. Took a while though. Have you eaten?" He asked.

"No. We're still waiting on the girls." Nev contributed. They heard the pop of apparition. "We're in the kitchen!" Nev yelled as the girls came in.

Mione looked at her watch. "It's nearly half twelve. You waited for us?" She asked.

"Yeah, but I was putting a sick Teddy to bed." Harry confirmed.

"Is he in our room?" she pondered as they sat down.

"Yeah. Right now, he's asleep but I doubt it will last." Harry looked at Mione. "I hope you don't mind love but he'll probably be in our bed tonight at some point."

"Yeah." Mione grinned. "He likes to sleep on your chest. After all, it's a comfy place to sleep—I should know!" Her fiancé went bright red as she kissed him quickly.

"Come on. I'm hungry!" Sirius whined as they followed him to the table. As everyone, including Dobby, sat down to eat, they began discussing their day. Dobby began. "I went to Mitzy's house today to learn more about what a Head Elf of an Ancient and Noble Family will need to know." He then looked very shyly at Harry and Neville. "I told Mitzy what you said about marriage and we started talking." He looked a little sad. "It is a very hard thing to think of because house elves do not marry. We have always been viewed as nothing more than property. When we have children is not up to us, it is up to our masters. A male house elf will never see his oldest elfling again, most likely. The same for the second child and its mum. Just the idea that we could have that is amazing and we're both talking about it now."

"That's good. I'm glad it's more than an idea now." Mione smiled.

"So, how'd your appointment go with Ted today?" Harry asked Mione.

Luna and Mione started giggling. "It went great. We hired Fleur to take over the business."

"Why Fleur?" Nev inquired.

"Well, apparently she's had ideas of how to run the business more efficiently but Bill stopped her from bringing them up on Sunday's because he didn't think it was her place. I'm going to hex Bill to next Sunday for that." She paused. "Anyway, did you know her dad was a big-time businessman in France?" Both boys shook their heads. "Well, Fleur learned a lot from him and working at Gringotts has helped. Now, Fleur is going to solve all our production issues. She wants us to turn one of your guys' abandoned warehouses into a factory for manufacturing our devices."

"Sounds good." Harry smiled. "I didn't know Fleur was so well versed in business."

"I spent the morning brainstorming ideas with some of the other Alliance members about your idea with the taxes." Sirius changed the subject slightly. "Some were really interested, some not. It's going to take a while to get those like Arthur on board because he doesn't have much money and can't see giving the government any as a good thing."

"Just tell him that the taxes will be based on what you make." Hermione suggested.

"Yeah. I don't know. I'll work on him. Did you know, he's planning on giving the Prewitt seat to Percy?"

"Yeah. It was brought up on Sunday." Harry answered.

At that moment, they heard Teddy wake up and an owl knocking on a window. Harry jumped up and rushed up to his room while Hermione let the owl in. She untied the parchment and the owl turned around and flew out.

She looked down at the parchment and muttered "Really not a nice owl. Oh, Nev. Here."

She handed him the parchment and went to sit back down. "What is it, love?" Luna asked.

"Oh, it's the list of all the orphanages the DCS gives funds to and how many kids of each age group there are in each. It also suggests an appointment tomorrow with the Head of DCS."

"That's good." Harry agreed as he walked in with Teddy. "Do you have that potion Sirius? He's got a temperature."

"Sure kid." He got up and poured out the dosage. The rest of the day was spent with each person having a go at trying to take Teddy's mind off his cold. It was finally ten o'clock when Hermione, Harry and Teddy went to bed. "It's awfully strange to be our age and be so used to taking care of a baby, you know?" Hermione said.

"Yeah but he needs us right now." Harry responded looking at his now sleeping godson in his basket. "Can you watch him while I do my nighttime routine?"

"Sure, love." Mione replied as she pulled her top up.

Harry looked at his beautiful fiancée get unclothed. "Boy is a sick kid a mood killer." He muttered as he went to the loo and Mione laughed. By the time he was done, he was disappointed that the strip show was over. "Like I said-mood killer." He muttered again as he got into bed. He could hear her chuckle as she took her turn in the loo.

By midnight that night, Teddy was laying on Harry's stomach asleep again. He and Hermione were taking turns trying to get him to sleep. The most he'd sleep was an hour and a half at a time. At six when Teddy woke, Harry was exhausted because as much as Mione helped, Teddy was most comforted by Harry. Consequently, he was up the most.

"Harry, I'm going to take Teddy to the library. You have the appointment with DCS today, so you need some rest." Hermione explained as she took Teddy from him.

"Thanks love." He replied as he wiped his eyes and fell back on the bed. He was asleep when his head hit the pillow.

**HP**

Later that morning, Harry awoke much livelier than before. He took a nice, long shower, got dressed and went up to the library. Hermione was putting books on shelves but Teddy was nowhere in sight.

"Where's Teddy?" He asked the room.

"Hi Harry. He's in the game room, I think. It was Sirius' turn last." Mione smiled as she got up to kiss her love.

"Okay. I'll head up there." He turned around to head upstairs. When he got there. Nev, Dora, Luna and Sirius were playing monopoly. However, it was a virtual set of some kind. "What's this?" He asked. "It looks like a hologram of a monopoly board."

"It's based on that idea, yeah." Luna spoke slowly as she moved her piece. "We've basically created charms that will display a board, either wizarding or muggle, and you move your physical piece around by throwing real die. There's also another charm that another player can do to be the banker."

"You should take that to Hogwarts this fall." He then turned to his best friend. "Happy birthday mate. You'll get your present tonight." He smiled at his friend.

"Thanks Harry." He grinned. Teddy began crying and Sirius started to unhook the sling.

"Harry, he was fed, changed and potioned half an hour ago. I think he needs sleep and you're the best for that, so here ya go." Sirius grinned as he handed the teen his godson.

"When is our meeting with DCS, Nev?" he asked.

"I changed it to one and it's here in the study."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "I called to cancel and he said he was more than willing to come here if we weren't comfortable leaving."

Harry nodded. "Good. Hopefully, this one'll be asleep then." He started doing the walk-and-jiggle that usually calmed Teddy down. "You know, I've played this game a few times." He began as he took another pass near the table. "It's always been a boring game but this version actually looks fun."

"Who'd you play it with?" Sirius wanted to know.

"My cousin. I actually won the first game, but was told by Vernon that I would be whipped if I won again." Harry said as his godfather scowled. "Point is, I'd actually like to play this."

"I'm going to buy Park Place." Luna stated as numbers changed in the bank. What was truly fascinating was the sound of clapping and whistling coming from the board itself that accompanied the change in status.

"Does that happen every time you buy a property?" He laughed.

"No. Only when you collect a monopoly." Luna answered.

Harry looked down at his godson to discover he was asleep. Harry put Teddy in a basket and sat down to watch them play. "I really don't know how you do it." Dora sighed and shook her head as she looked at her son. "When he's sick, he only usually sleeps for you or Sirius."

"I don't know. Just be glad he sleeps for someone, I guess." He smiled.

Mione came upstairs then. "Hey everyone." She greeted as she sat next to Harry. "Luna, I did a count. We need more books on ritual magic and special celebrations."

Luna looked up from the study of the board. "Shall we go while the boys are talking to DCS?"

"Sounds good. How's the game working in actual play?" She queried.

"Great." Sirius enthused. "Even if I am being beaten by Neville, it's fun!" he laughed.

**HP**

At one o'clock, the Head of DCS, Summer Snokes, came through the floo in the office. Dora had added it to the incoming floo list so associates could floo right to them and not have to see the rest of the house—security reasons.

They found out that there were over 250 orphans of all ages from this war that they had already found. They were being slept three or four a room in such tight spaces that they were running out of room. Overall, there were 25 newborns in the system, 90 toddlers and preschoolers, 110 school age, and 28 Hogwarts age.

"So, we'll be able to take all the newborns and 40 of each of the other age groups." Harry rattled off. "Have each orphanage make a list of the oldest of each age group and we'll come talk to them about where they're going to live and get to know them."

"Are you going to need any funding from us?" she asked.

"Not for at least two years and by then we're hoping to be making money on our dairy farm and nursery." Nev answered. "Although, I'm nearly positive the nursery will be making a profit next year."

Soon, the meeting was over and Harry had to switch from the very uncomfortable role of businessman to the more familiar, and much more enjoyable, role of godfather.

**HP**

That evening, they had Emma, Dan and Augusta over for a birthday dinner for Neville. Dobby baked his favorite food for dinner, a pepperoni and sausage pizza, and a large, very moist and delicious vanilla cake.

After cake, came presents. "Well, Nev, the eight of us have gone together to get you your own greenhouse at Hogwarts. Professor Sprout has approved and we bought and have funded your own playhouse at Hogwarts." Harry was nearly being choked by his best mate.

"That's amazing." He sighed after he'd hugged everyone within an inch of their lives.

"If you look upstairs in the library, Nev, you'll find a whole new section on Herbology." Hermione stated as Luna grabbed onto his arm.

"Mione, why'd you say that? We're never going to get him out of there unless he's apparating to Hogwarts." Luna groaned as she kept him seated by simply sitting on him.

**HP**

The next morning, Harry got a call from Summer Snokes who told him to be at Mary's House at nine o'clock to have their first meet and greet with the kids there. Then at half ten, they were to go to St. Mary's. Finally, they were to go to St. Matthew's Home at one.

"So, who wants to go see these kids with us?" Harry asked at breakfast.

"We do." Both girls piped up.

"We should stay here and share Teddy Duty." Sirius commented.

"Yeah. I really don't want any orphan getting sick because of Ted." Dora sighed. "Otherwise I'd be with you."

Harry and Nev got up. "Let's go then." Harry looked at the girls as they cleared their places.

"I really wish you'd stop doing that." Dobby said softly.

"What?" Mione asked.

"Please stop clearing your places. That is my job." He replied adamantly.

Hermione's eyes went wide. "Sorry Dobby. Habit. I was raised to clean up after myself. It's a hard habit to break."

At that, Sirius let out a bark-like laugh. "Weird habit to have to train yourself out of!"

**HP**

So at nine o'clock, the quartet floo'd to Mary's House. It was a nicer place than St. Mary's but not as nice as Hufflepuff House. They floo'd to the entrance hall where an older lady, with a smile on her face, was waiting for them.

"Hello, I'm Mrs. Closworth. Welcome to Mary's House. As I understand it, you will be taking all of my newborns, we have fifteen. You'll be meeting fifteen toddlers, 20 school age and 8 Hogwarts age. Follow me please, they are out on the lawn waiting." She led them outside. "Children, gather round." She said as they all sat down in rows. Some of the older kids had toddlers on their laps. "I'd like to introduce you to Harry Potter, Neville Longbottom, Hermione Granger and Luna Lovegood. They're here to tell you about where you're going to be living soon." She stood back and Harry stood forward.

"Hey guys. My name is Harry Potter."

He grinned as someone yelled out, "Of course you are—everyone knows that."

"True." He rolled his eyes. "What you may not know is that my best mate, Neville and I have started an orphanage that will have a nursery and dairy farm on it called the Lily and Alice Refuge or LAR. All of you are going to be some of our new residents." He turned back to Luna. "Luna could you bring out some of the drawings and photos we've taken." She did. "Come up here and look at these." He said as he conjured a table for the kids to sit around. One little girl, maybe four, came up to him and pulled on his hand. He looked down and saw a little girl with stick straight copper coloured hair and freckles all over her face. She held her arms up in the universal 'pick me up please' sign. He bent down on his knees and said, "What's your name little one?"

"Penny. Can you pick me up? I can't see over everyone." She looked sad but resolved.

"Of course, Penny. Come here." He got up and picked her up. He pointed at a picture of a finished tower. "You'll be staying in a tower like this when you come to live at LAR. How many kids do you share a room with?"

She raised three fingers.

"Well, you'll only have one when you move in. Won't that be nice?" he asked as she nodded vigorously. "What do you like to do Penny?"

"Look at books." She replied shyly as he smiled and started over to Mione who was holding a little boy about the same age. "Mione, guess what Penny here said was her favorite thing to do?"

"What?"

"Look at books."

Mione smiled. "So she's a minnie me! This is Kyle here. He likes Quidditch!"

"So a Minnie me then!" he laughed. Looking at Penny he whispered. "Mione hates it when I play Quidditch because she thinks I always get hurt." Penny giggled.

"That's because you get hurt nearly every game!" she replied mock-indignantly.

"But I catch the snitch every time!" and he high-fived Kyle. Mione leaned down to Penny. "Boys are strange." Which just made Penny giggle more.

"Yes we are." They agreed nearly together.

They really did enjoy the day. At each orphanage at least one of the four bonded with a kid. Neville bonded with a boy named Richard who liked to play in the soil—just like he did at the same age. Luna became attached to a new blond boy named Alex who liked to make up stories. However, it was hardest for Harry and Mione to leave Mary's House and leave Penny and Kyle—so much so that while changing for dinner, they talked about adopting them.

As Mione was getting dressed, she lamented, "I know we can't adopt them but let's at least keep track of them so we can go see them and maybe be a big sister or brother to them."

"I like that idea." Harry responded as they walked to the kitchen.

Sirius, The Family plus Em and Dan were there waiting. "Okay. Harry, you know we're taking you out to dinner for your birthday." He conjured a blindfold and handed it to Mione. "Put this on him." She did and all of them apparated. "We're here. You can take off his blindfold, Mione."

She grinned as Sirius did a countdown with his fingers. At the appropriate time, Mione undid the blindfold and there was a wave of "SURPRISE!" so loud he took a step back.

When he got his bearings, he noticed they were in the party pavilion with the entire family plus some of the Alliance kids he was close to. The place looked like a regular restaurant with a dance floor.

As he was taking all this in, he noticed The Family looked a little worried. "Why'd you do all this?"

"Well, let's see." Sirius tapped his finger to his chin. "My godson only turns 18 once. I think that's good enough. Come on, say hi to some of the people who wanted to see you enjoy your birthday. I wanted to do something much bigger but Dan and Hermione convinced me that smaller was better." He grinned at the relief that ran across Harry's face.

So, Harry spent the evening of his eighteenth birthday eating, dancing and talking to friends. At one point, Harry asked Emma to dance with him.

They soon went back to a table of friends and Alliance kids who were talking about the idea of taxing everyone.

"I've been doing some research about how muggle governments work on the internet—thanks to Mione and Luna—and I've found some very interesting things." Daphne stated. "Did you know how many forms of governments muggles have. They have absolute monarchs, which is one person tells everyone else what the rules are. They have a one chamber legislative body like we do, they have a two-chamber legislative body—both popularly elected-and they have a two-chamber legislature that has one chamber popularly elected and one chosen by the monarch."

"Yes. The last one is how muggle Britain works. The two-chamber, popularly elected is how it runs in the States." Hermione added.

"But there is no way we ever get the actual legislature changed." Melanie Ogden said. "We, as an alliance, may have the majority in Wizengamot but there is no way all of our parents agree to adding another, popularly elected, chamber to our government."

"If Harry says he wants it, it'll get done. Especially with Sirius advocating for it." Susan laughed.

"Me?" Harry asked. "Why would anyone listen to me? Haven't you all been hearing how raving mad I am these last few years?" They all laughed_. It is good to look back and be able to laugh about that lunacy,_ Harry thought.

"Harry, having killed Voldemort, you have a lot of clout right now." Bill chuckled. "Even the Goblins like you because of your friendship with Swordback, rather than treating him like vermin. I'd say use it to make the world better."

"Yeah, Harry." Katie Bell encouraged. "If we strike while your popularity is at its highest, we might change the world for the better."

"Shouldn't we start with the taxes and get that passed, then move onto the legislature?" Mione wanted them to concentrate on one issue at a time. "The restructuring of the government can wait until we have the money to run it."

"Wizengamot confiscated money from all the Death Eaters that were convicted." Elaine Ogden offered. "I had a talk with my dad a while back and he said they had enough money to run the government for at least two years. So yes, it's important to reorganize taxes but also the structure of our government, making it more equal to all is as well. That should be our main goal right now."

"Okay." Nev spoke for the first time. He was watching body language so he could talk to the others about what people really thought about the ideas being discussed. Gran had always told him not to trust what people say. To truly understand what people believed, watch their body language as they talk. "Why don't we do this? Why don't we elect eight of us to write a proposal we can present at the dinner next week?"

"Sounds good." Harry confirmed. "Why don't y-"

"No way! No way in hell Harry!" Hermione and Luna started laughing as the others looked confused at his near screech. "Don't even think it! I ran the Awards Committee; you can run this one."

At the disappointed look on Harry's face, Hermione explained, "When they were forming the Awards Committee, Harry's nomination of Neville was deliberate on his part. He told me, he wanted to make sure the new assertive Neville stayed around." At that explanation, everyone busted up laughing.

After she got ahold of herself, Katie addressed her former teammate, "Well, I guess you're it, Captain."

They elected Harry, Hermione (so she could write the report), Bill, Ernie, Melanie, Susan, and Elaine. They decided to meet Sunday morning at the Madhouse. It was a very interesting but odd birthday for Harry.

He went to bed pleased that night.

**HP**

The next morning, Harry rose bright and early to make breakfast. He knew that Mione and Luna would be spending the day, or at least the morning, at Longbottom Estate setting up for the Lammas Ritual both families were doing that night.

"Hey kiddo." Sirius greeted Harry as he strode into the kitchen. "How are you today?"

"I'm okay. I was just thinking of last night and the conversation with the other heirs."

"Yeah. What about?"

"Well, they were positing that this was the perfect time to restructure the government to allow more popular consent. They basically were telling me that you and I could get it rammed through if we want." Harry paused. "If I were power hungry, would Wizengamot just let me lead them? Would I get whatever I wanted? And where does that leave the country? And me for that matter?" As he was talking, he was getting more vocal and more panicked.

Sirius took him by the shoulders and looked him in the eyes. "Harry, calm down. We would never let that happen to you. You are part of a family now and family protects family." He saw the panic begin to recede in those green orbs. "First, yes you have a lot of influence right now. Hell, if you wanted to be Minister, I think we could pull that off." He held up his hand at Harry trying to interrupt him. "I know you don't want that. I'm just saying the influence is there. Why not use it to change the government from the inside? Why not spend the next few weeks campaigning for a new kind of government? Especially if it's what you want. Let me ask you this: do you want a government that is more responsive to the peoples' needs or do you want the government that let's one class rule them all? And yes, I'm paraphrasing Tolkien!" Sirius and Harry laughed. Mione had given him Lord of the Rings when they were in Australia and he loved them.

"I guess I see what you're saying but it's not going to be easy or fast. Another thing Mione and I talked about last night was no citizen of Magical Britain has experience with having a say in the government; we will need to teach them how to think like a voter." Harry shook his head. "This is not going to be easy."

"Is anything worth doing easy?" Sirius asked pointedly.

"No." He sighed as he and Sirius started making the table. "But why can't I just be Harry?" He whined

Sirius laughed. "Sorry kid. It's not in the cards for you."

"Hello, Hello" They heard from the entrance way.

"In here Dan!" Sirius yelled as Mione and Luna came in.

"Uncle Sirius. Stop yelling. If you need to talk to someone, find them, don't just scream out." Mione said in an exaggeratedly soft voice.

"Okay Hermione." Sirius responded just as softly as he came closer to her. "I'LL DO JUST THAT!" he screamed into her face.

Everyone but Hermione started laughing as she muttered "Man-child." And laughed as well.

After breakfast, the girls, and Dora went to Longbottom Estates.

**HP**

At Longbottom Estate, the three younger witches were met by Augusta. "Hello everyone." She smiled. Hermione was always amused that Augusta met them at the floo—even though she knew it was just them. Neville had explained, when he had done the same at The Madhouse, that it was just built in reflex to them both. Which made Hermione enjoy it more!

"Well, ladies. First, here in Longbottom Estates, we have a ritual room we use for these events. It is on the western side of the house. This morning we are going to be decorating the altar. Tonight, at sunset, we will perform a Harvest Ritual. This is going to be very basic altar and ritual so you know what to expect." She explained as she opened a door. The room inside was rather large with the walls painted as a forest. In the center of the room was a medium-sized dining room table. On a small side table were what looked to Hermione like ingredients for the altar. "Because this is a Harvest Celebration, we modern practitioners don't celebrate it the way they used to. As we have become more used to having food all year, we are not as concerned with the physical harvest of food. Instead, Lammas has become about planning for things ahead. Are there things you know are coming in the next year that you need to be thinking about now?" Looking at Hermione, she smiled, "For instance weddings and births. Is there something you must sacrifice now to make sure it's available later? Traditionally, you would be thinking about surviving the coming winter; having enough food stores, that kind of thing." Augusta moved to the side table where there were things that simply looked odd to the younger people. "Now, as it's a harvest festival, the color scheme is going to be what?" She asked.

"Yellow."

"Orange."

"Red."

"Exactly." She smiled. As she handed Hermione a red table cloth, Hermione spread it on the altar. She then handed Dora and Luna an orange and yellow candle respectively, which they placed on the altar. She handed two old goblets to Hermione. "These are for the wine we'll use in the ritual." When all three were back, she looked at the table. "All the fruit and grain here are harvested during this time, so they shall be on the altar too."

"What will the ritual be like tonight?" Hermione prompted curiously.

"I will cast a circle for us around the altar to stand in." She said as she put several corn dolls on the altar. As Hermione took several stalks of wheat to the altar, Augusta said, "Please count the stalks to make sure there are enough for everyone. We will then recite a few prayers and light some candles and drink some wine." She looked at the altar and smiled. They had put grapes, bread, apples and carrots on the altar. It was a full altar, like they had when Frank and Gerald were here. She hadn't celebrated the holidays much since her beloved Gerald died. "That looks amazing girls." She smiled happily at them. "Mitzy."

"Yes madam." The little elf popped into being.

"Can you get us seven more of the goblets please Mitzy?"

"Yes madam." She was back a minute later with them and Hermione and Luna started placing them on the altar.

"It doesn't seem Neville knows much about these celebrations. Why is that?" Luna inquired.

"Our family slowly stopped celebrating holidays after Frank and Alice were hospitalized. After Gerald passed, I saw no reason to go to the trouble." She replied.

They left before lunch to spend some time at home.

HP

When they got home, they went to the game room where everyone was located. Hermione noticed Teddy was asleep in her mum's arms.

"Hey mum. You got him to sleep. That's amazing. When he's sick Harry's usually the only one that can help."

"Well, he's feeling better today and he was just fed. He went out like a light when I burped him." She smiled. "Sort of like you after we read you a book."

Hermione just shook her head and went to give Harry a hug. "So, how'd your day go?"

"Pretty well. I think we get our room back tonight." He grinned at her.

She slapped him playfully. "You love having Teddy in bed with us, don't deny it!"

"Sometimes but I want you to myself." He winked at her. She just rolled her eyes and laughed as she sat down.

As they went down to lunch, Sirius started talking about the Ball the next night at Hogwarts. "So, the ball tomorrow starts at six. We will have awards, then dinner then dancing. King told me to make sure you all understood that you would be expected to dance." He laughed at the boys' uncomfortable expression. "Since there are so many of the Dragon Heart recipients, he is going to make a speech about some of those he knew and there will be a plaque set up in the entry hall at Hogwarts that has all the names on it. The actual award is being sent to the recipient or their next of kin. The OM 3rd class recipients will be seated together and will come up as a group to have their awards sealed magically to their robes. The OM 2nd class will be called up and their next of kin will receive it on their behalf. The 1st class recipients will be given their awards individually by King."

"Is the castle ready for this? Is it fixed?" Harry asked.

"Yes. It was finished a few weeks ago. The Great Hall will be expanded for this event but that's already done." Sirius smiled at Harry's troubled look. "What's wrong pup?"

"Well, I guess I'm a little uncomfortable about the criteria they used to select the 1st class awardees. I really don't like the fact that Nev and I were kept out of that decision. I mean, what if they decide to award it to someone who never fought?"

"Knowing Charles, there's no way that happens. Don't worry pup." He smiled reassuringly at his godson, none of the mirth he was suppressing showing in his eyes.

**HP **

That evening, The Extended Family floo'd to Longbottom Estates. Since sunset was at 8.49 that evening, Augusta invited everyone over at 8.15. They arrived and were escorted into the sitting room.

"I know that as a group our knowledge of the celebration of Lammas varies. I would like to give you a general idea of what it represents and how it is celebrated now. First, the celebration of Lammas is a celebration of rebirth, thinking of the future and above all, planning for the future. Traditionally, this is a time to celebrate the harvest coming in and planning how to use that harvest to survive the coming winter and spring. If you look at our altar in the ritual room, you will see many nods to the bringing in of the harvest. Like I told the young witches this morning, now that we humans don't have to worry about how we'll extend the harvested foods to last the winter, we concentrate on our general plans for the coming winter and spring. It is a time to decide, for instance, what you might have to sacrifice now to gain something during the winter months. This should be our mindset as we say the ritual prayers at the altar." She instructed as she stood up and perambulated into the ritual room.

"Wow." Emma whispered as she looked at the altar.

"They did a wonderful job on the altar, didn't they?" Augusta smiled at the young witches. "I decided not going to cast a circle tonight. Our family only does that for certain holidays. Come. Stand around the table." She spoke more softly than usual. She lit a candle and handed around stalks of wheat and began the ceremony. "We will begin with the first prayer on the list you have." They spoke together: _"__The __Wheel of the Year__ has turned once more, and the harvest will soon be upon us.__We have food on our tables, and the soil is fertile.__Nature's bounty, the gift of the earth,__gives us reasons to be thankful.__Mother of the Harvest, with your sickle and basket,__bless me with abundance and plenty."__She then instructed them, "Now, take a minute or two and meditate about what you are planning this winter and what you may need to sacrifice to make that work." She smiled again as everyone closed their eyes and thought. A minute later, she told them. "Now, take your stalk of wheat and crumble it on the altar. After, we will do the second prayer." They all crumbled their stalk of wheat. Then they spoke again together, "The power of the Harvest is within me.__As the seed falls to the earth and is reborn each year,__I too grow as the seasons change.__As the grain takes root in the fertile soil,__I too will find my roots and develop.__As the smallest seed blooms into a mighty stalk,__I too will bloom where I landed.__As the wheat is harvested and saved for winter,__I too will set aside that which I can use later." She then grabbed the loaf of bread and broke a chunk off. Then she spoke alone, "__I pass to you this gift of the first harvest._" She passed the bread to Sirius as he did the same. When everyone had a piece of bread, she said, "You may eat you're your bread and drink the wine in the goblets now." When they had all done that, she nodded and they all said: "_The bounty is here for all of us, and we are so blessed." With that, she said "Blessed Be" as she blew out the candle. "Please come to the drawing room and relax." She said in her normal voice as she led the way._

_"Wow. That was nerve wracking." Dora sighed._

_"I thought it was amazingly centering. I feel as though I could take on the world." Hermione contributed._

_"I know what you mean, Mione." Luna added. "I feel as though my thoughts are more ordered." They sat down in the less formal drawing room. "High Priestess Longbottom, is that how it is supposed to feel?"_

_"Luna it is just Priestess or Augusta please. The answer is yes. This is supposed to help you center for the coming year."_

_"Why is it not High Priestess?" Hermione inquired._

_"I never did all the studying that was required of a High Priestess in my family. I was not interested in going deeper than I needed to in order to conduct family rituals." She explained. She smiled at her new family. They talked for a while longer about what they thought of the ritual, then they went home._


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N Sorry it's been so long since I updated. This last month has been hell as I student teach and go to school-essentially 2 full time jobs plus my teens at home. It's been a busy month. Hope you enjoy. R & R**

**Ch. 25**

**2 August 1998**

The next evening, it seemed to Harry to be a replay of the night they went to Phantom of the Opera. All four men were standing at the base of the stairs waiting for their dates. While Sirius and Dora weren't dating, they were going to this "thing", as Dora called it, together.

Luna, Dora, and Emma came down to greet their men looking amazing to Harry. However, when he looked up the stairs next, he saw what he would later describe as a vision.

"Bloody Hell!" Harry exclaimed as Hermione came down in a strapless, floor-length red gown that hugged her in all the right places. Her hair was down but looked like waves of honey moving as she moved. She had a touch of makeup on.

When she met him at the bottom of the stairs all he was capable of saying was "Oh Merlin. Y-Y-You look amazing"

She giggled as she put a finger under his jaw. "You need to close your mouth and stop drooling if we're going to apparate anywhere."

He shook his head and finally was able to find an actually coherent sentence. "Then you need to stop trying to kill me." Everyone laughed at that.

Looking in his hazy eyes with that "knocked over the head with a mallet" look on his face, she decided "I'll apparate you love. I don't want you to splinch." She looked at everyone else. "Everyone ready?" She got nods in returned and they all disapparated.

They arrived outside the castle gates and walked up to the castle proper. When they got there, they had to hand over their invitations to the ministry workers before they were allowed in.

As soon as they were in the Great Hall, they noticed that instead of the usual house tables, there were white seats lined up in rows facing the dais where there was a podium with six chairs behind it.

King came up to them and pointed to the two young couples. "You four have seats on the stage. Please sit there." He said in a commanding tone that brooked no argument.

"Who are the other chairs for?" Luna asked.

"You'll see." He grinned mischievously as he nudged them up the steps. Once everyone was seated, Kingsley went to the podium and Ron and Ginny sat next to them. "Welcome to all invited guests." As Kingsley gave a speech about honor and sacrifice, all that was going through Harry's mind was: _Why the hell am I up here? Why is it always me that gets dragged into these things? What are they going to want me to do? Why can't I have a normal life?_ And finally, it dawned on him, _Oh shite, they are going to give me a 1__st__ class aren't they?_

"As you know, we are here to honor those who were sacrificed in the last two wars." He pulled off a sheet from a plaque. "This plaque lists all those that died or were injured in these wars. Each honoree or family will be getting their Dragon Heart Award by owl this week. I would like to take a minute and tell you about one such person. His name was James Potter." At this Harry perked up. "He was a firstie when I was a seventh year, but we all knew him and his buddies, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. He and Sirius were the boisterous, fun loving pair that were the life of the party that year." He paused "They also loved their pranks. I understand, even after I left, they loved their pranks." Several people sniggered at this. "The next time I met up with James, he was married to Lily. He was still boisterous but also more focused. We were in the Order together and went on several missions together. He was always professional unless he was talking about Lily or Harry. Then he got this goofy grin on his face and you could tell he worshipped the two of them. As we all know, he and Lily died trying to save their son from Voldemort when he was a year old. The both of them died that night but they took Voldemort with them for nearly fourteen years. These are only two of the people honored with a Dragon's Heart Award which acknowledges those who died or were injured in Voldemort's Reign of Terror." He lifted up a Dragon Heart Medal and said. "To all those who died or injured." He turned around and picked up an Order of Merlin 3rd class and started talking again.

Hermione, and especially Harry, had not known King was going to talk about James. At the beginning of the speech, Hermione looked at Harry's stricken face and laid her hand in his. She could see the devastation of losing his parents from his stiff posture to the expression on his face. As Kingsley started talking of their deaths, Harry turned to Hermione and buried his head in her shoulder. She just kept running her hand over his back and kept whispering. "They loved you Harry. They are so proud of you, love." over and over again. Eventually, he had gotten himself under enough control to start paying attention to his surroundings.

"So now we turn to the Order of Merlin First class awardees. These six went above and beyond in their fight against Voldemort and his enemies. These first three led the fight here at Hogwarts against the Death Eaters running the school. They protected the younger students from the more horrible punishments by taking the blame for them. When the Final Battle occurred, they were the leaders of the student fighters. These brave people are Luna Lovegood, Ginny Weasley and Neville Longbottom. Please come forwards now." He turned to look at them and they started to move. Harry started clapping, then Hermione, then Ron, then more and more clapping and shouting came from the audience. Harry noticed a lot of them were DA members they found in the Room of Requirement that night. As the clapping continued, students got up. Soon everyone was on their feet and Neville was blushing like mad. He quickly sat down and the others followed suit soon. "Now, onto the last of the awardees. To introduce the first awardee, I introduce Bill Weasley." King and Bill switched places and Bill motioned Ron forward.

"I am almost 10 years older than my brother Ron." Bill began. _Okay, if they got Bill to award Ron his medal, who are they going to get for me and how the hell do I get out of this?_ Harry thought, looking around the room.

Then Harry heard Kingsley say "To award our second nominee, here is her mother, Emma Granger."

As they switched places, Emma looked at Hermione and smiled. "Some of you know my daughter Hermione as that smart girl in class, some of you know her as Harry Potter's best friend. I know her as a beautiful, loyal, person anyone can count on to be there—even if you don't want her to be. From what I've heard from her friends, she can be bossy and a stickler for the rules but that's not all she is. She is a loving, kind, courageous and loyal person who I am very grateful to call my daughter. Honey, we love you with all our heart and are very proud of everything you've done." She was crying as she put the medallion around her neck and kissed her cheek. They separated, each taking their own seat.

"And now for the last awardee is his Godfather Sirius Black." Kingsley said as Sirius ran up to the dais and skipped up the steps. "Well. I never thought I'd be up on this stage—except to apologise for a schoolwide prank James, Remus and I pulled." People laughed as he heard Minnie snort delicately. "Anyway, as I wasn't able to spend most of his life with him, I knew Harry as a baby and a moody teen—and really there's not much difference in the personality." People laughed as Harry groaned "As a child, if Harry didn't get a ride on his broom, he threw a tantrum. As an early teen, if he didn't get what he wanted, I understand, he brooded—after slamming his door closed. However, after Voldemort came back, there was a determination in his appearance that was very familiar to me. It was the same look that James had when he told me first year that he'd marry Lily someday.

When Harry turned up at my house after the ministry fell, he had that same look in his eyes when he told me he was going to kill the bastard that had killed his parents—his words, not mine. And as any of us who know Harry understand, he meant every word. When the trio finished their work and were ready to kill Moldieshorts, they came here to confront the little shit. And you know what, he did. Just like he'd told us months previous. Harry," He turned to look at his Godson who was standing very still next to him. "Your parents and Remus would be so proud that you killed the bastard and I know for a fact they would be proud of your choice of fiancée. I love you kiddo and you truly deserve this award." He grabbed his boy and they hugged as he put the medallion over his head. As they separated, Kingsley came back up and dismissed everyone. With a wave of his wand the chairs turned into round tables set for dinner with a dance floor in the middle.

Harry looked over at Mione and took her hand. "Why don't we find a table?" He suggested as his glance included Nev and Luna.

"Sure Harry." Luna agreed and they made their way to the table. When they sat down, the rest of The Family joined them.

"So, how are you doing Harry?" Emma asked as she sat down across from him.

"As well as can be, I expect. I hate these damn things. I did what I had to, nothing more nothing less. And I'm bloody tired of being held up as some kind of damn hero. I'm Harry. Just Harry." He growled the last.

"So, you're engaged to my girl now, are you?" They heard a voice say as the owner came closer. Harry stood up and turned toward the voice. There was his ex-best friend with his wand out, his face as red as his hair and his expression one of pure fury.

Everyone in The Family stood up with Harry, every available wand at the ready. Dora came over to Ron and put her hand on his shoulder. "Ron, you don't want to do this here and now." She hissed quietly.

"Tonks, get out of my way!" He pushed her aside and she fell backwards on her bum.

Harry heard a "Shite!" as she got up.

"Dora no!" Harry hissed as he stepped up to Ron. Pointing his wand at Ron, he hissed, "DON'T. YOU. EVER. HIT. MY. FAMILY. AGAIN."

"Well, then don't steal mine!" Ron was now getting louder and louder. "My family goes to your house each week and leaves me to mind the store. That should be me. I'm just as worthy as you but you get everything: money, the house, the fame and the girl I wanted. Even when I get something special like this—" he thrust his medallion out, "you get one too!" Two spells flew past Harry and hit Ron in the chest. Suddenly it was dead quiet and Ron was stiff as a board and falling forward. Harry caught him and laid him down.

Harry looked behind him and saw his godfather smirk, "Sorry Harry. He needed to shut up. You weren't doing it, so I had to. He's not ruining this night for us."

When Harry looked at Mione she just remarked, "Needed to be done." As he turned back to Ron, he saw two Aurors carting him away. Harry then pulled out Mione's chair and sat next to her, pretending to forget all about it. He began to tamp down on his anger to forget about it, when Mione whispered, "We'll talk about it later. You are not bottling this up mister." She smiled at him as he relaxed. She knew him too well.

After they ate an amazing dinner, Harry and Hermione danced. "Wow! You're not tripping over your own feet." Hermione teased.

"Yes."

"Well, colour me surprised." She laughed.

**HP**

The next day, everyone had a lazy morning. Dora eventually went over to her parents' house to pick Teddy up from his sleepover. Harry and Nev started talking about taking a small vacation to one of their properties. Consequently, they went to Gringotts later in the morning to see where they could go. They narrowed it down to two. One was a Potter villa in Tuscany, the other a Longbottom home in Greece.

Hermione, meanwhile, was putting together the ideas the Alliance heirs had on Friday to start a presentation. The heirs would be coming to the Madhouse for a working dinner tonight.

**HP**

That evening Bill showed up a little earlier than anyone else. "Hey Bill. Come on in." Harry welcomed him.

"Hey Harry. Is Hermione here?" He asked nervously.

"Sure. Come out to the terrace." He smiled at Bill, trying to make him feel more comfortable. Harry was a little concerned because Bill was never nervous, at least that Harry saw.

"Hey Bill." Mione greeted as she reached for a hug. Afterwards, she looked at Bill critically. "So, what's wrong Bill?"

He looked startled. "Why'd you ask that?"

"Because that wasn't like most hugs from you."

Bill huffed "I just wanted to apologise on our family's behalf for last night." When they looked a little confused, he elaborated, "Ron."

Mione snorted. "That's nothing for you to worry about. We don't hold it against you." She chuckled at the look of relief on his face. "That's who Ron is. He'll either grow up and be civil to us or not. Our relationship with your family doesn't change because your brother's a prat." She laughed again and decided to have a go at him. "However, had the twins done something, that'd be unforgivable." All three laughed.

Soon the rest of the Heirs arrived and they got to work. It became something of a routine. During the evenings, the heirs would eat dinner and brainstorm. The next morning, Hermione would work all their notes into a coherent plan. That evening, they'd go over the plan so far and brainstorm more.

On Thursday, they decided that they'd share brunch Saturday morning to finish up, then present it that night.

Throughout all this, Harry and Nev talked their family into leaving Sunday morning for Tuscany and coming home Wednesday night for Wizengamot Thursday.

Saturday morning Harry woke up with Teddy but, instead of getting up to cook breakfast, they went back to sleep on the terrace outside the kitchen. When they were woken up by Hermione, it was to let them know that everyone would be arriving in ten minutes for brunch.

Harry just looked at his godson, who was grinning and pulling on Harry's stubble. "Guess we better get up kiddo." He groaned as he attempted to get out of the chair. "Oooomph." He grunted as he got to his feet.

A few minutes later, everyone was gathered around the tables on the terrace filling plates. "So," Harry stood after everyone was seated. "Hermione has been working on a plan that needs a vote this morning. I understand that the governmental system we are suggesting is much simpler than the system muggle England uses now but is not dissimilar. First, Wizengamot will be the upper house of our system while the lower house is popularly elected. There will be thirty members, one for each regional district. The lower house, or the House of Commons, will not have much power at first. It will basically rubber stamp what Wizengamot does. Over time we can hand over more responsibility to it." And the discussion went on from there.

That evening, after everyone discussed what was on the agenda for August. Sirius stood. "In a few minutes, we will hear some ideas from our heirs about how to make Wizengamot more accessible to the regular witch or wizard. However, right now I want to bring up something we've been talking about all month. That is, I think we should propose on Thursday that Wizengamot should meet once a week. While all of us are working together and with others outside the Alliance to get things like protections for other magical beings passed, we have to wait an entire month to bring it to the floor. This gives people time to renege on their promises because they are talked out of it. Is there support for this idea?

"What if we can't come to each session? I am Headmistress at Hogwarts." McGonagall asked.

"That's when you send your proxy." Silas answered.

"I guess it is reasonable to assume we can't get everything done in those 5 hours a month." Someone else said.

"You know, it was only during Voldemort's rise that Wizengamot went to once a month sessions." Thomas Ogden volunteered. The debate was fierce sometimes but they eventually voted to propose this change.

"Now, those of you that do not live here, probably have no idea what our heirs are going to suggest next." Sirius grinned mischievously. "I've watched them sit in the kitchen debating how to make our government work properly, for all magical people." At the incredulous looks on his allies faces, he burst out laughing. Boy, was he going to love watching these oldsters as their children suggest changing the world, he laughed to himself. "Anyway, I'll hand it off to Bill Weasley who will tell you about how they want to change the tax system." He sat down.

Bill stood and moved to the front. "Right now, from what all of us could tell, the tax system runs along the idea of donations. It depends on the wealthy families donating to the DMLE or the Creatures Dept each year, am I right?" he got several nods. "Once each department sets their budget for the year, it's sent to Wizengamot where each family decides how much of that department they'll support. This is why in some times, the Department of International Cooperation gets 3 times the funding as the DMLE, yeah?"

"Exactly!" Amelia Bones said exasperatedly. Everyone who had heard Amelia's rants about funding laughed.

"So, we decided we need a more even-handed tax system that applies to everyone." Bill continued, holding up his hands for quiet. "Please listen. We learned how the muggles do this. They tax every adult in the country based on what you make. For instance, Harry will pay a larger percentage of his income as taxes because he makes more from investments than most make in a lifetime. I will pay much less because I am a lowly curse breaker not a Lord who doesn't have to work." Everyone laughed at how red Harry was.

"Hey that's not my fault!"

"Sorry Harry. Just taking the mickey." Bill laughed. "Anyway," he continued a minute later. "Does anyone have any questions so far?"

"Why change the system that already works?" Doge asked.

"It only works for you." Bill replied. "Most magicals have given up on our government protecting them because they see it as only working for the purebloods. If we begin with an equitable tax plan that will go to helping the everyday person, maybe they'll start trusting the government more."

This led to a debate by some of the old families as to why they should care about the normal magicals. It went on until eleven o'clock when they took a vote and it passed by one.

The heirs then decided to leave the reformation of the government to a later date. Everyone was tired and frustrated and the heirs wanted their full attention for that. Before everyone could leave however, Nev made a suggestion, "Could we please have another Alliance meeting before school starts so we all know where we are with all this?"

"Of course." Sirius agreed as others nodded. "Why don't we do it the Saturday before they leave?"

**HP**

Sunday morning, everyone was up at the crack of dawn. Sirius had gotten the reusable portkey to the Potter residence near Porto Santo Stefano that week from Ted. By 6.15, The Family plus Dan and Emma were in the entrance hall waiting for the portkey to trigger.

When they landed, they were outside a white old-fashioned roman style villa. "Wow." Emma whispered. "This is huge."

Sirius laughed. "Yeah. Come on, I'll show around. This is where your parents went on their honeymoon Harry."

"James had good taste!" Hermione agreed. "This would make a great place for a honeymoon Hint Hint." Harry laughed.

They walked around to a stone patio and walkway that led down to a pool with deck chairs under a pergola. From the patio, they could see the Mediterranean Sea laid out in all its glory.

They walked through the French doors leading from the patio to the kitchen. There, Dobby was already making breakfast. There was a beautiful farmhouse dining table set for breakfast.

"Breakfast will be in 20 minutes." Dobby smiled at his family.

They went through the house which had a formal dining room, sitting room, drawing room, study and bathroom on the ground floor. On the first floor, there were seven bedrooms each with en suites. Although the flooring on the ground floor was stone, the bedrooms were done in light carpet.

They each chose rooms and then went back to the kitchen. "I think I'm going to spend the day sunbathing." Hermione decided. "Want to join me mum? Luna?"

"Sure." The three women grinned at each other.

For the most part, the four-day vacation was spent on the beach or by the pool. Unless they were off exploring the history around them. They spent most of Monday and part of Tuesday in Florence, in both the magical section and the muggle. They went through Palazzo Vecchio, Uffizi Gallery and the Pitti Palace.

At night, the two couples went out to dinner both together and separately. It was finally Tuesday night, the day before they went home when Emma brought up the wedding.

"So, Hermione. When is the date for the wedding? Or have you even thought of that?" She laughed at the horror-struck look on the young couple's faces.

"I guess it'll be next summer." Hermione thought aloud as she bit her lip. She looked at Harry. "I think we decided August, yeah?"

"Sounds good to me." Harry took a deep breath. "If we're going to go back to Hogwarts that year for masteries, then it should be early August so we can get ready for the year after. According to Minerva, a Mastery can take three years and that includes teaching at least part-time."

"When'd you talk to Minerva about that?" Sirius asked.

"At my birthday party." He grinned. "She wanted to let me know that the Wizarding Examinations Authority was considering giving Hermione, Ron and I our NEWTs in Charms and Defence. She was also trying to get them to use the students' performance in the Battle to award at least NEWTs in DADA and maybe Charms as well."

"That's wonderful!" exclaimed Hermione. "That's two less classes this year. Maybe I can start my Mastery work this year." She smiled happily.

"Or you can use that time to plan the wedding." Emma reminded her daughter.

"Yes. Or I can do that." She smirked, her mum was looking forward to this too much.

**HP**

The next day, they portkeyed home. They arrived in the entrance hall and went to unpack. When everyone was done, they congregated in the game room. "I guess I should check up on the construction site today." Harry thought aloud as he got his phone out and began dialing Ariana's number.

"I'd best check in with Dirk." Nev added.

"And we'll get a heads up from Fleur." Hermione looked at Luna. "Why don't we go to the Alley, that way we can go to Flourish's even if Fleur isn't in?"

"And we should check in on the store." Luna added as Hermione and she stood up.

"We'd better go check in on the practice." Emma put in as she also got up.

"Wait, Wait, wait. Hold on before everyone rushes off!" Sirius yelled over the hubbub. Everyone looked over at him. "We just got back from a brilliant vacation. Don't overdo it today. Everyone be here by six for dinner, yeah?"

"Okay." Everyone agreed as they went their separate ways.

Luna and Hermione were the first down the stairs to apparate to the headquarters of MIT in a business district off Diagon Alley called Commerce Alley.

When they got there, Luna and Mione were amazed. They strode into 33 Commerce Alley and looked at the Directory on the wall. "There it is." Hermione pointed to the display. "They're on the third floor. It looks like Fleur has rented the entire floor." She remarked as they got on the lift.

When they arrived at the third floor, there was a young witch with honey coloured hair sitting in the lobby at a desk. "How may I help you?" She asked.

"Where is Fleur Weasley? We wanted to check in with her." Hermione smiled.

"Can I tell her who is asking?"

"Hermione Granger and Luna Lovegood"

"Just a moment." She picked up a telephone-like device and spoke into it asking if Fleur could see them. After she hung up, she said, "She'll be right out. You may sit over there." She waved to the couches available.

As they were about to sit, they heard Fleur say, "Welcome 'ermione and Luna." as she walked up and gave them pecks on the cheeks. "It's good to see you look so tanned. I guess Tuscany agrees with you?" She laughed musically as both girls nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah. It was wonderful." Hermione smiled. "We relaxed and took in some sights. But all good things end." She answered as they joined Fleur in the heart of the office. Hermione noted the cubicle style setup on the majority of the floorspace. However, along the side of the building looking over the street, she saw several offices. The largest one was the corner office which had floor to ceiling windows on both the north and west sides of the office. There was a smaller office cubicle obviously set up for the secretary in front of the office. Looking down the hall, there were several offices that had similar views of the street.

They walked into the large office and saw it decorated very conservatively. To Hermione it looked like any office a person would see on a telly. The only difference was the wedding picture of Bill and Fleur on the desk moved.

"Now, how can I help you today?" Fleur looked every bit the businesswoman behind her desk as she looked at them.

"We were wondering how the organization of the business was going?" Luna asked.

"Well, we have the manufacturing plant up and running. We have a staff working there to rune and charm each item after it's manufactured. Then it's sent to the store's warehouse." She smiled. "My question is: do we want to hire more inventors to come up with analogs of muggle products or create their own. Or we could simply have you come up with ideas and have our staff work on them. We want to keep the ideas flowing."

Hermione and Luna looked at each other. "I think we'll need to talk about it. I'm not sure if I want to keep inventing for the commercial market or do what Luna's mum Pandora did. She invented spells and that's something we're both interested in."

"Neither of us have the patience for marketing or any of that. At heart, we're both academics. It just so happens our first inventions were commercial ideas." Luna continued.

"So, maybe we hire some to invent and use you as consultants. If you happen to come up with an idea, bring it to me and we'll figure out how to develop it." Fleur suggested.

"Makes sense." Hermione nodded. "How are we doing profit-wise?"

"Well, we spent a lot of money on getting the manufacturing up and running. It'll be a few months until we're making a profit again."

"Okay. Glad to know it's going so well without us." Luna grinned.

"That's what you pay me for." Fleur smiled back reassuringly.

The girls stood up. "Well, we'll see you Sunday then." They said as they left.

**HP**

While their girls were out looking after their business, the boys split up to look at their own projects. They both apparated to the apparition spot next to the orphanage.

"Wow." Harry sighed. "It's almost done."

"At least it looks like it from the outside." Nev said. They had apparated to the front of the building. It was a long rectangular building with the four towers. The front door was a solid oak door that looked like it could stand up to a battering ram. "Why don't you go ahead, Harry. I'm going to see Dirk." Nev waved as he walked back to the apparition point and Harry walked in.

Going straight in, there was a beautiful grand staircase, very much like Hogwarts but with an escalator included. On the right, was the Great Hall that ran to the back of the building. The outside walls of the hall were windows. To the left of the front doors was the game room. This had a small staircase in the middle that went up to another level of the game room. From both floors of the game room, you could walk through the back-wall archway to a huge library. The library also had a staircase from the ground floor to the first floor of books. It also had a doorway to the back of the building and a fireplace. There were a few window seats on the back and west wall of the library, which led to a very sunlit library. He could see little Penny sitting there reading in a few weeks.

He went back downstairs from the main stairs and went behind them. There was a hall that went from the library to the Great Hall. Off this hallway were offices.

He went to the first floor and saw that the back wall and above the Great Hall were classrooms. The second, third, and fourth floors were classrooms and living space for all the staff.

The main staircase branched at the fifth floor and led to the four corners of the building. He saw entrances to each common room at each corner of the building. He wondered what they did with the lower part of each tower. From the outside, it looked as though the towers come from the ground floor but the dormitories didn't start until the fifth floor. He started heading back down because it sounded like they were still working in the towers.

He headed back to the offices to see if Venus was in. He found her in the largest office.

"Hey Venus. How is everything going?" He asked after he was bade to come in. He sat down languidly in the comfortable chair across from his new friend.

"Really well actually." She smiled. "They'll be done tonight with construction and furnishing will happen tomorrow. We have everything, the elves just need to place it all. Everyone will move in Friday after lunch. Are you going to be here for the opening?"

"Of course. I want to see Penny and Kyle." He laughed. "I noticed the pitch is ready."

"Yeah. Auntie's been hounding me to get that up." She laughed.

"I bet." Harry sniggered. He knew now that some of the players on the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw teams would be moving in, so they'd be practicing. "Hey, the dorms don't start until the fifth floor. What are in the towers below those floors?" he asked.

"That's elf housing and storage." She supplied. "The elves are in the north and east towers and the storage is in the other two."

"Okay. That makes sense. Are all the live-ins already here?"

"No. They'll be moved in tomorrow. Why doesn't your family come have dinner with us tomorrow? You can meet everyone and we can do a full tour after dinner."

He smiled. "That'd be brilliant." He stood up. "Thank you, Venus." He reached out and hugged her. "Thanks for making this so easy or at least look easy. I wish I'd had someone like you when I was growing up."

"You're welcome Harry. I'm glad to do it." she replied as he walked out of the office. He went to the apparition point and apparated to the nursery.

**HP**

When Hermione and Luna left the office, they decided to go to Flourish and Blott's. "You know, Luna, we have more books in our library than I think even the Black Library has. I'm wondering if we should cut down on the amount we spent at Flourish's." She turned to look at Luna who was just staring at her in that wide-eyed fashion she had. Then she said, very seriously, "We should have enough, shouldn't we?"

At that, Luna started to giggle. Then Hermione started to giggle. "I almost believed you for a minute." Luna was now in hysterical-laughter mode, Hermione not far behind as they walked in. The look of surprise on Mr. Blott's face was so strange, it was like ice water to the face.

They split up then. Hermione went to the rare books collection while Luna went to the Charms books.

About an hour later, both girls were up paying for their purchases. They went through their normal banter as they waited in line.

"So how many did you get?" Luna asked.

"I stopped counting at 15." She grinned impishly. "You?"

"Last count was 20." They both laughed. "We say it every time but we shouldn't bring our cards to this place. We have a tendency to buy too much."

Hermione sighed. "I know but for us it's like clothing shopping for most witches."

"You can never have too many books, Ms. Granger." Mr. Blott smiled. "And Ms. Lovegood, it runs in your family. Your mother was always here looking something or another up. You two obviously treasure books, so I have no problem parting with some of my prizes."

**HP**

When the boys got home, not only did the house smell delicious but the Beatles were echoing off the walls, it seemed. Not loudly, it just seemed to be everywhere.

"Merlin that smells good!" Nev groaned. "It smells like Mitzy's peach cobbler." He started toward the kitchen. While Harry had never had peach cobbler outside Hogwarts, and didn't much care for it there, two things made him follow Nev. First, he'd only ever seen that look on Nev's face after he'd been snogging Luna, so this must really be something. And two, it really smelled scrumptious as Mione would say.

When they got to the kitchen, Dobby was singing happily as he made dinner. He looked up at the boys and his countenance turned into a fierce protectiveness, which was quite comical to Harry. He'd only seen this side of Dobby about him or protecting his kitchen rights at breakfast. He nearly burst out laughing when Dobby continued "Mister Neville _may not_ have any cobbler before dinner. Mitzy warned me you might try to steal it like you did as an elfling." He spoke intensely as he snapped his fingers and a shield went around the baking cobbler.

When he saw this, Harry couldn't stop it. As Nev's face got red in embarrassment or anger-Harry wasn't sure-Harry started laughing, then giggling, then full belly laughing. He couldn't stop. "It's not funny Harry!" Nev complained. "All I want is a small bite! I knew it was Mitzy's. She makes the most amazing cobblers. Can't—"

"NO!" Dobby yelled. This got Harry's attention.

"Nev, don't push him." Harry sobered up quickly. "The last time I heard that tone, he dropped Malfoy on his arse."

"Oh." Nev whined as Dobby's grin took up his whole face.

"That was a great thing I did to bad old master!" He said proudly.

"Yes it was, dear friend." Harry smiled back at the little guy. "I'm going to find Teddy. Protect the cobbler Dobby!" He yelled as he left.

"Not funny Harry!"

"I will Master!" followed him out as he chuckled while thinking about Mitzy's warning.

**HP**

When the girls came home, they heard lots of talking from the game room; so, they headed up there after dropping their books off. When they got there, The Family and Grangers were there.

"Hey Mum, Dad" Hermione leaned down for a kiss. She then went to Teddy, who was with Harry, and kissed him.

"Hey! Don't I get a kiss?" Harry reached up towards his fiancée.

"Oh you want a kiss?" she smiled teasingly as he nodded his head. She shrugged. "Okay." She reached down and gave him a quick peck.

"Hey! Come here, you." He got up, gave Teddy away and took her from behind as she had turned around.

"Hey!" She batted his arms away as she turned to him grinning. "I knew I'd get a real kiss if you had to get up." She teased as she kissed him passionately. In fact, it was so passionate that Sirius and Nev were wolf-whistling and Dan was starting to clear his throat loudly.

When they separated, he put his forehead on hers, "You miss me or something?" he asked quietly.

"Very much. I love you, my fiancée."

"As I love you." He smiled, thinking that he was going to marry the love of his life. "We really should set a date. I can't wait to marry you." Hermione giggled as they sat down together as Teddy was handed back to his godfather.

**HP**

The next morning, after breakfast, the two couples decided they wanted to go to Hogsmeade and look around. As they did in East Grinstead, they separated by sexes.

Luna and Hermione decided to go to Tomes and Scrolls later or they'd never leave. As they walked down not only High Street but some of the offshoots, they found a wedding dress and robe shop.

"Let's go in here." Luna said as she pulled Hermione towards Everything Bridal. "I know some people use this shop for everything they need for their weddings-cakes, food, dresses, favours, wine, anything you can think of." She said. They walked into a clearly magically-expanded front room. It reminded Hermione of those wedding expos they do in the muggle world where they have photographers, cake designers, caterers, florists, and DJ's. It was extremely overwhelming for Hermione. However, her extremely logical side went into action and she decided some decisions about the wedding could be made now.

She turned to Luna and asked softly, "Would you like to be my Maid of Honor, Luna?"

Luna got a big grin on her face. "You know, you've asked me that before? I said yes then and I say it now. Yes I'd love to."

Hermione shook her head and grinned. "I guess I'm already so nervous about it, I forget. I need a wedding organiser."

**HP**

That afternoon Wizengamot met and approved the changes to the schedule. They would now meet once a week instead of once a month. They also appointed a committee to report about the feasibility of a separate department to oversee the more even tax code the LPB Alliance proposed.

Sirius spoke again about both issues and seemed to win over a few of the non-allied members of Wizengamot with his impassioned speeches. It was fascinating for Harry to be witness to his godfather's charisma again.


	26. Chapter 26

**A/N Some of you have commented on the lack of emotional conflict in this story. Part of that is I feel they are still somewhat in denial about what has happened to them. They've pushed it to the back of their minds as they concentrate on things they feel are more important. However, this will change as the Yule season hits them full force.**

**A/N 2 I can't believe I'm up to 101 reviews. Thank you to all who have read and reviewed. I truly appreciate it.**

**A/N 3 As the coronavirus has screwed up my student teaching (schools are closed in Ca), I seem to have more time to write. However, as I am not going to church right now, I will update once a weekend depending on when I get to it. I was picking up my daughter from college this weekend, which is why this is late. Have fun self isolating!**

**On to the story!**

**Ch. 26**

**14 August 1998**

The next day, Harry woke up before Teddy. As the sun was shining through the window, he looked down on his beautiful fiancée. How he was lucky enough to get such an amazing, intelligent, loving, gorgeous woman to agree to marry him was a constant question in his mind. He was so damned lucky, he was a little afraid he'd wake up in the tent again and this would've been a dream.

"Hello sexy." Mione grumbled hoarsely as she opened her eyes.

Harry suddenly was aware he was playing with her fascinating hair and he must have awoken her. He took his hand away from her hair as he said, "I'm sorry, luv. I didn't mean to wake you."

"I know. But I'm up now so what do you want to do?" She asked huskily.

"This." He smiled as he leaned down and captured her lips with his. Then he took it deeper. They spent the morning exploring each other and what made them feel best.

Soon though, they were resting with Mione curled up naked to her equally naked fiancé with her head resting on his chest, enjoying the feeling of him breathing. "I love you sweetheart."

"I love you too." He smiled down at her. He then heard Teddy whining. "I better get that." He sighed reluctantly as she moved off him.

Mione decided to start her morning routine while her love was dealing with the baby. She got dressed into a nice pair of jeans, a green top and high heeled boots and put on a little makeup before she tied her crazy hair (her mum's and her nickname for the mass of bushy hair on her head) into a ponytail and looked in the mirror. Satisfied, she smiled and went downstairs.

Looking around the kitchen, she noticed Mitzy was making breakfast. "Why are you here Mitzy? Where's Dobby? Is he all right?" she rapid fired at the elf.

"I'm making breakfast." She smiled. "Dondla asked if Dobby could help with some sewing that she needs to work on because she can't do it all. So, I'm here until Dobby is done. He wouldn't go until he knew someone was caring for his family." She said proudly. Then her ears slowly fell. "Does Miss Her-mine-ee have a problem with that?"

"No. I'm glad to see you again." She smiled at the diminutive elf. "You can come here any time. I was just worried he might be ill."

"He's fine." She turned back to her work as Harry and Teddy came down.

"Dobby was needed at Longbottom Estate, so Mitzy's here." Mione informed Harry as she took Teddy. Soon everyone was down and it was a happy family that broke their fast together.

After breakfast, Harry was ready to go. "Come on. The kids will be there in 45 minutes. We should be there before them." He urged. He was really looking forward to seeing the kids when they moved in to LAR.

"That means we have 40 minutes." Sirius teased when he saw the look he got from Harry.

"Okay. I'm going. You people can come later but I want to make sure the nursery people are there. I'll see you later." He stated as he disapparated from the entry way.

**HP**

When he arrived, he immediately went inside. Elves were hurrying about placing items in the entry as Harry went up the stairs to the Nursery. When he got to the Common Room, he noticed Jacen's flat door open. He stuck his head in. "Jacen, Jaina! You guys here?" Harry asked.

"Come on in Harry." He heard Jaina from the kitchen. He went through the drawing room, through the sitting room to the kitchen.

"Hey Jaina. I was wondering where Jacen was?"

"Where else?" She smiled as she fed one of the twins. He couldn't tell them apart. "He's with his staff, making sure they are ready. It's really nice to know we won't be doing everything at night. The extra bedroom across the common room means we will have help."

"Yeah. I think Jacen said he was going to have the staff switch nights so there are two in that room each night." Harry laughed. "By tonight, you'll have seventeen babies in the tower."

Jaina laughed as she put one twin in the Moses Basket and set about feeding the other. "Yeah. But Jace said they all sleep through the night now."

"Yeah. Well, I should go check in with Venus." Harry got up and began to leave. "Bye Jaina."

"Bye Harry."

Harry found Venus talking to the Head Elf in the kitchen about lunch. Celeste set the menu, made sure it was nutritious and made sure the elves had everything they needed. However, Venus was just doing one last check.

"Hey Venus. I was just in the nursery and Jacen is having a staff meeting. I assume everything's ready."

"Yes. I was just checking about lunch. Everything seems ready." She looked at her watch. "The Knight Bus should be here with all the kids in about ten minutes. All their belongings have been brought here and set up by the elves. The infants will be brought from Mary's House, through apparition, by the staff there at half ten."

"That's good." He was walking over to the game room. "I know that all the noisy games are down here. Do you guys have a stereo system?"

"No. I was thinking of buying one from MIT though." She smiled.

"Bugger that, Venus." Harry scoffed. "I'll donate one with a supply of our favorite music and I'll have Mione and Luna put up the charms that make it sound throughout the structure."

"We could also donate an Omni-Reader for the Library." Mione offered as she walked in from behind and put her head over her lover's shoulder.

"What's an Omni-Reader?" Venus was intrigued.

"It's a portable index of all the books in a particular library and gives you a map to where that book, subject or author is in that library." She explained. "We are also trying to develop a charm like Gemenio but more permanent that will duplicate the books contents onto the Omni-Reader. That way, Luna and I can be at Hogwarts and still access The PB Library." At the confused look by Venus she remembered, "That's the Potter-Black Library, our home library."

"Oh yes. I've heard of your collection. Auntie's a little afraid you'll run out of room."

"Well, we can always expand." She shrugged as they heard a bang outside. Harry just ran out, bouncing Teddy in his sling but holding his head still. Venus and Mione came more slowly.

Harry got out there and realised there were lots of staff waiting for the kids. As the kids got off the bus, the staff put them into lines. However, Penny, Kyle, Richard and Alex immediately went to their adult friend. Penny just walked up to Harry and said in a tiny, scared voice. "Up please?" Harry handed Teddy to Dora, giving Teddy a kiss and reached down to pick her up. "Come on, little one. Let's get in line." He smiled at her as Mione, Nev and Luna followed with their kids. "How's my Penny today?" he asked.

"Scared."

"Why?"

"Cause I'm leaving home again."

"This is your new home and you can stay however long you want." He smiled reassuringly at her.

"Will you come visit?"

"Of course. Especially when I'm not in school." He gave her a kiss as they went to the Dining Hall where everyone sat and was introduced to the staff. Then the staff, including teachers, showed small groups of similar ages around the home.

The staff showing Harry and Penny around was the Headmistress of the school, Ms. Froshbent. When they were shown the library, Penny's eyes got huge. "Oh my! This is so big." Harry let her down and she ran off to the stacks. Harry was a little concerned when she didn't come back right away so he went looking for her. It took him a few minutes to find her again. When he did find her, he told her, "You scared me. I thought I'd lost you."

She smiled and said. "Janet always said that if they lost me to look where there are books."

"Hmm. I'll have to remember that." Harry smiled as they found their group. Ms. Froshbent, who showed the children her office, the primary and secondary Deputy's offices on the first floor and the entrance to their flat (all three women were sharing one flat because they were already friends), also showed them to the toddler/preschool tower.

It was there that the four adults, Harry, Ida the Preschool Deputy, April and Jacqueline the Primary School Deputy, let the kids wander and find their own rooms. Harry asked, "So April, have you found all the teachers you'll need."

She looked at her Preschool and Primary School Deputies. Jacqueline nodded and Ida shook her head. "I'm still looking for three more because we decided to have a two-year-old, three-year-old and a four-year -old class. I have all the main teachers in place, I'm just looking for aids now."

"I would not want to keep track of a class of four-year-olds, I almost lost Penny just in the library." Harry shook his head.

"She is fond of you, isn't she?" Ida laughed.

"Yeah. But she's so adorable, it's hard to say no to her." He grimaced playfully.

"Harry! Harry! Harry!" Penny shot down the stairs and grabbed his hand. "Come here! See my new room!"

He looked over at his employees as he said, "How am I supposed to say no to that?"

He heard the door to the common room open and saw his godfather coming in. "Can we say whipped anyone?" Sirius asked jokingly as Harry rolled his eyes and followed Penny upstairs.

The last thing he heard before he started paying attention to Penny was Sirius saying, "Harry can never, ever say no to a kid!" as they all laughed.

When Penny and Harry came down, all the kids in their group had gathered. They were all playing nicely when a bell rang. "That's the ten-minute bell everyone. Please stop what you're doing and follow me to lunch." April told the youngsters as she and her co-workers gathered the children. Penny simply stood up and held her hands out to Harry. Without stopping the conversation he was having with Sirius, he picked her up and started following the others.

"Whipped!" Sirius coughed.

"Yeah like you're one to talk! How long have you been holding Farrah?" He looked behind him to Sirius and laughed at the guilty look on his face. Farrah had come up to him and wanted to play while Harry was upstairs with Penny.

After lunch, everyone said goodbye—or tried to at least. The kids that had glommed on to The Family were not happy and would only let them leave when they looked at their diaries and said they'd be back on Wednesday.

**HP**

When everyone got home, they got to the game room and collapsed. "That was only three hours with one child to keep my eye on. How do parents of toddlers do it?" Nev asked. "I'm exhausted!"

"Mum says you grow to have the energy you need as the kids grow." Dora answered.

Sirius' phone rang and he walked away to answer it. When he came back, he informed them. "Minnie say she's bringing your letters tonight. I invited her to dinner." People nodded in acceptance.

"Let's start Friday Night Movie Night early." Harry suggested. "Temple of Doom, anyone?"

"Sure." Nev, Dora and Sirius agreed as Harry put it in.

**HP**

That night, Harry went to the sitting room to greet Minerva.

"Welcome to the Madhouse, Minerva. Come to the kitchen, please." He greeted as he kissed her hand.

"Of course." She followed him in where greetings were exchanged and Minerva sat down. They ate dinner just talking about how the move-in went and how their summers were progressing.

When they were done with the peach cobbler that Nev seemed to want to scarf down, they went to the drawing room where Minerva spoke. "I came here this evening to give you these." She began, handing out Hogwarts letters. "And to let you know that the renovations are completely done. We now have an entrance to the Chamber that doesn't need you Harry. The chamber now has a pool, gym equipment and a basketball court. There is now a football pitch near the quidditch pitch with stands and outlines for the rugby field and cricket area."

She said all this as the young people were opening their letters.

All four people were really looking forward to getting their letters. No one would say it, but Hermione was really hoping to make Head Girl. When Hermione dumped the contents of the letter on the coffee table, she noticed the silver badge in the mix. Picking it up to make sure it was the Head Girl badge, she screamed as loud as anyone had ever heard as she jumped up and down. "I made it! I made it!" She pulled Harry up and started kissing him in between her screams.

Soon though the other three opened their letters. Harry dumped his out like Hermione and found the same pin his fiancée got but with Head Boy on it. "Wow." He whispered. "How'd I get this?" he looked with furrowed brow at Minerva. "What'd I do to get this?" The entire room started laughing.

"He—has—no—idea!" Dora got out through her laughter.

"He wouldn't." Hermione replied.

Harry looked at Minerva. "Is this because of Voldemort? I wasn't even there last year. I shouldn't get it. Nev should. He's the one that led the DA!"

Nev opened his letter, having a sort of sad look on his face. Obviously, happy for Harry, but sad for himself, as he noticed a Head Boy badge. He looked at Minerva curiously. "What?"

"The Heads and I decided we wanted to acknowledge both of your contributions, so we split it in two." She nodded to Luna, who opened her letter to find her Head Girl pin. She and Hermione started doing the jumpy dance Nev and Harry had noticed they did when excited. "This does mean you will be sharing a suite designed for two people with four. However, I don't think that will be a problem for the four of you." She said over the girls screams. When they had all calmed down, she continued. "We will need you to come to school the day before so I can show you your rooms. I will tell you now that I expect you to be available to all students all the time. I will also expect you to introduce each prefect for each house at the Welcome Feast. I will not have First Years wandering around trying to save their friends because they don't know who their prefects are." She looked meaningfully at Harry.

"Hey! I'm now marrying that friend!" he countered.

"Dangerous things like that won't happen at my school." She said firmly.

"Good!" The Family said as one.

"Well, I will see you on the thirty-first." She smiled at them as she got up to leave.

**HP**

The next two weeks were a blur for the two couples. The next day, while the men were all at a Quidditch match, the women were working on the Omni-Reader. They went to do their Hogwarts shopping on Monday. Tuesday, they spent the day at the amusement park Alton Towers. Wednesday they spent at LAR playing with and reading to the kids. Harry brought with him 14 brooms and a quidditch ball set so they could actually play real games.

Thursday, they attended Wizengamot and got the DMLE budget passed. That Saturday they all saw Cats. They spent the next week going to some historical places Mione thought every British person should be aware of. Places like Canterbury Cathedral, Stonehenge, William Shakespeare's hometown Stratford-upon-Avon, St. Paul's Cathedral, and Hadrian's Wall took up most of the week. They even decided to bring their orphanage friends to Shakespeare's hometown on the Friday before they left for Hogwarts. This was the fourth time in the past two weeks that they had seen the kids. When they dropped the kids off after a long day, they decided they needed to warn them about Hogwarts coming up.

They took them to the upper library where there was some comfortable seating. Each adult sat with a kid on their lap, Harry had Teddy too.

"So, kiddos," Harry started. "On Tuesday, the four of us are going to have to go back to Hogwarts for the school year."

"Why?" Penny asked.

"Does that mean we won't see you again?" Alex worried his lip.

"No. That means that you won't see that much of us." Mione answered. "We'll come get you for Quidditch matches but that's about it until Yule Break. Then we'll be back. At least for a few weeks."

"Does that mean we'll see you like we do now?" Richard asked.

"Yes." Nev smiled at the boy on his lap. "And when you come to Hogwarts for the game, I'll introduce you to Professor Sprout. She's the teacher I told you about?"

"Great!" Richard bounced on Nev's knee. "I want to see the greenhouses."

"Of course you do." Luna leaned over and mussed his blond hair.

"We'll see you play, Harry?" Kyle asked.

"Yes. But you have to cover my eyes when he does one of his dives." Hermione promised as everyone laughed. They had played plenty of Quidditch the past fortnight and all the kids knew about Mione shutting her eyes when Harry did something dangerous—at least by her standards.

"I will Mione." Kyle hugged her. "I'm going to miss you, Mione." He whispered to her.

"I'll miss you too sweetheart." Then she looked him in the eyes. "You'll have someone write to me, yeah? I want to hear how you're doing." She noticed tears in his eyes and felt tears in her own.

As they got up to leave, the kids gave everyone, including Teddy, a hug. As Harry was walking out the door, Penny ran up to him and grabbed his leg. "I love you Harry."

He bent down and kissed her head. "I love you too, little one." He whispered in her ear.

HP

By Saturday, the day of the Alliance Dinner, Harry was meloncholy. He got up that morning with Teddy. "I think this is going to be one of our last mornings together because I'll be off to Hogwarts and you'll be here. Maybe you can come on Quidditch weekends and I can get you up then." He told Teddy as he sat to feed him. Dora came into the nursery then.

"Did I hear you talking to Teddy about not having mornings with him?" she asked.

"Yeah. You'll be going back to work soon and I'll be at Hogwarts." Harry returned sadly.

"Didn't you know that I'm the new DADA teacher?" She looked concerned.

"Really?" Harry's face brightened. "So Teddy will be living there too?" Dora nodded. "Why didn't you tell me? I was so worried Teddy would forget me!"

"Well I just decided before the letters came out and you've been busy lately."

Harry then went back to being melancholy. "Sirius is going to be here alone though. Will he be okay?"

"Hey, it's not Grimmauld and he's got Dan next door." She smiled as she realised he was concerned for his godfather.

"True! I fear for Emma now that you put it like that." He laughed as Teddy burped and they went to the kitchen.

**HP**

That evening, the talk of the heirs was the start of the school year. When they learned about the new Head Boy/Girl situation, everyone was pleased. "It makes sense." Susan explained. "They couldn't decide so they chose all of you."

"And we have an actual DADA teacher this year." Mione said.

"Who?" was shouted by several students.

"A former Auror and our very own Dora Lupin." Harry grinned as he had Teddy wave to Dora.

"That's brilliant!", "That's going to be so cool!", "I can't wait! Wasn't she married to Professor Lupin, the only other good DADA teacher we had?" someone asked.

"Yep." Harry grinned. "And this is their little one. My godson!"

"He isn't proud or anything." Bill contributed. "Do you know who the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain is?"

"Not me." Harry grinned.

"It's Ron."

"Wow! If he can stand me, we'll do really well this year." Harry whistled.

"How's he going to handle Prefect and Captain?" Mione asked.

"I don't know."

The Alliance was brought back together to eat and discuss their goals.

"We have gotten Wizengamot to meet once a week; it was actually pretty easy to do because most understood things weren't getting accomplished in one session a month. Also, there is now a committee meeting to see if your tax plans can work. They will present their findings at the first Thursday in October." Sirius informed the group of changes.

"What are we going to do to make our government more responsive to the people?" Bill asked. He wanted to bring up the idea of a lower house in the government without putting everybody on the spot.

"What do you mean, it doesn't respond to everyone?" Cyrus Bell asked.

"Well, when has our government ever responded to a crisis that only effected muggleborns and half-bloods? In the First War, it only acted against Voldemort after he started killing purebloods." Bill continued. "My Goblin coworkers laugh at me because my dad is part of that "old boys club" known as Wizengamot. They think it's a waste of time."

"So, how do we fix it?" Arthur asked. And they were off to the races discussing this for several hours when they decided to put it aside until the next meeting.


	27. Chapter 27

**A/N I really do want to say thank you to every one who has taken the time to read and review this story. I really want to mention Karatekid-Ninja and alix33 for their constant support. You two have been there since I started this and have been nothing but supportive, even when you're suggesting things. I love it. Thanks a lot.**

**Ch. 27**

**30 August 1998**

The next day, Hermione and Luna decided to wash all the clothes the four of them had. It would have taken quite a while to do, except they had the Grangers machine as well. Luckily, they were done by noon. They then separated out each couples' clothes and started packing their respective trunks. Each had bought a seven-trunks-in-one; therefore, they had plenty of room.

If you happened to be on their floor, you could hear the girls yelling things like: "I found Nev's brown shirt!" or "I have another pair of Harry's socks" coming from the two rooms.

Around ten o'clock, the rest of the family was up in the game room, away from the monsters known as Hermione and Luna. Harry had gone into his room to get a toy for Teddy and Mione had nearly ripped his throat out. Needless to say, they stayed out afterwards.

Finally, around one, family started arriving for their last family meal for the time being. It was definitely a more subdued dinner than usual.

**HP**

Monday morning Harry did the usual wake up with his godson and went down to make breakfast. When others began arriving for breakfast, it was very quiet.

"So Sirius, can you do me a favour while I'm at school?" Harry asked as he ate.

"Sure kid. What do you need?"

"I was wondering if you could check on Penny, Kyle and the others for us."

Sirius smiled. "You mean Penny specifically, don't you?"

Harry sighed. "I'm worried. I can't help it."

"Of course, kiddo. I'll go read her a story every now and then." The look of relief and happiness on his godson's face was enough to ensure it got done.

After breakfast, Hermione, Harry, Nev, Luna, Dora and Teddy all floo'd to Minerva's office.

"Well, hello everyone." Minerva greeted as she got up and came around her desk.

"Hello Professor" everyone but Teddy answered.

"Well, Dora, I think we should head to your quarters." She began as they went down the stairs. "We have arranged Dora's quarters to be attached to the DADA classroom. However, due to your peculiar housing arrangements, we have decided to put the Heads' Suite next to it with a door between them."

"Yes!" Harry jumped up. "Teddy. You and I can still do our morning thing." He said to his godson, who was in Dora's arms.

The group started laughing. "I think that's the first time I've heard of a Head Boy _wanting _to be woken up by someone." Minerva chuckled.

"These two are weird, Minerva. They're in a bad mood for the rest of the day if you interrupt their bonding time." Hermione giggled as her fiancé glared at her. "It's why it is best to either leave them to it or watch from the door."

"So here we are Dora. You'll set the password." Minerva opened the door. Inside, there was a flat with two bedrooms, sitting room and kitchen. "If you go to the bedroom on the right, there is a door that leads to a bedroom in the Heads' Suite." She walked through it.

"This is my room." Harry claimed. "Unless you want to be woken up every morning." He looked at the other couple who shook their heads. They continued to walk through and found two en suites with a sitting room, kitchen and an extra bedroom.

"This is great." Luna sighed. "Our own first place." She wrapped her arm around Nev's.

"So, here is the list of Prefects. I am going to want you to introduce them at the Welcome Feast tomorrow." They headed back to her office as she handed them each a folder. "In the folder are the lists of Prefects and any other information I thought you'd need. Something that we added but didn't have time to get in the folders was that we want you to plan a Yule Ball for the night you leave for break. The teachers and I will be here to help if you need it." She smiled at their befuddled faces. "You know, I told Harry's parents and Neville's dad both when they came into their positions that they were going to have to plan a Ball-they all gave me that exact look." She sighed as they went up the stairs to her office. "Don't look so scared. They each managed it just fine-even if Lily and Alice had to push those boys to actually make plans.

You will also be expected to do the scheduling for the Prefects' rounds. I would suggest you have that ready for tomorrow. I've given each Prefect a mobile to make it easier for them to report disturbances, so their numbers are with the list of names I gave you. You are required to have a Prefect meeting once a month to inform them about changes teachers may make and to find out if they need help. You can have more if you would like but once a month is imperative. It is also important that at least two Prefects are in the common room at all hours that classes are not in session or students are not at dinner. It is also required that one of you is available in your own suite at that time. This is a new policy so that all students have access to a Prefect or Head at any given time. I know this sounds like lots of responsibility but you four have proven yourself to the staff and we know that you can handle it. If you have any questions, you can come to Filius or myself any time. Do you have any questions that I can answer now?" She looked over at the gobsmacked expressions on the boys' faces and the thoughtful expressions on the girls' faces.

"Can we just leave our door open while we're inside to let people know they can come in?" Hermione asked.

"Of course. If you're going to do that, you might want to let the younger students know that you can tutor them if they need help." She smiled.

"That's a good idea Professor." Luna smiled.

"That's why I'm Headmistress, Luna dear." She sniggered as the everyone laughed.

"You and Venus are so alike." Nev muttered.

"Thank you, Mr. Longbottom." She grinned. "Now go enjoy the rest of your day." She motioned to the fire.

"Mione, could you take Teddy home? I want to get our flat ready." Dora asked taking him out of the sling and handing everything over. When Harry went to take his godson, Dora smacked his hand. "You do not floo well. You will never floo with Teddy, get used to it." she growled playfully while Mione took over and everyone else laughed.

"You can have him when we get home." Mione kissed her sulking fiancé.

**HP**

The rest of the day was spent talking about their roles as Head students. The girls were in the library arranging schedules for rounds and Common Room Rotations.

While their lovers were doing all the scheduling, Harry and Nev were upstairs playing pool.

Sirius came home a while after Dora as Harry was taking Teddy to bed. When he came to the game room, Harry asked. "So, what have you been up to these last few weeks Sirius? I know you haven't been at the ministry a lot. I've talked to some of the heirs and they haven't seen you as much."

"Well, I got a job but I can't talk about it until next week. Why don't you mirror me on Sunday and I can tell you about it then?"

"Is it dangerous?"

"A little but nothing I can't handle."

"Sunday?" Harry asked. "I want full details. Don't go off doing something stupid, please. We need you here." He got up and hugged his godfather, very worried about this new job.

"I know kiddo." He smirked. "So, no running off to save my godson from the ministry you mean?"

Harry groaned as the others laughed. "I'm never going to live that down, am I?"

"Sorry. That would be a no." Sirius laughed. "It's a damn good thing Nev was there to make me duck!" At that Nev just blushed.

"Yeah, mate. Did I ever tell you thanks for that?" Harry inquired.

"Yes." Nev shook his head.

"Well, thanks again." He slapped Nev's back.

"No problem, mate."

Dinner actually included The Family, The Grangers, Augusta and Xeno that night. It was a very subdued affair because it was the last meal they'd have as a family.

"You know, you can all come to the Quidditch games this year." Hermione suggested. "Augusta and Xeno, you could bring my parents with you to see any quidditch game and if any of you think Sirius isn't coming, you're crazy."

"Yeah. Then we could have dinner at that pub you always talk about Hermione." Dan agreed.

"Yeah. We can go to The Three Broomsticks." Xeno confirmed. That got them on a more upbeat note.

**Tuesday 1 September 1998**

Something that rarely happened occurred—Hermione got up with Harry and Teddy. "Do you realise that this is the last time we'll be in our bed for several months?" she asked.

"Yeah. But at least Teddy will be there, even if Sirius won't be." He replied pensively. Mione stood behind Harry and put her arms around him.

"He'll be okay luv. He survived Azkaban for you, he'll survive this new job." She comforted.

"But what if he doesn't?"

"No what ifs. He will. I didn't ride on the back of a bloody hippogriff to have Sirius not die of old age." They both laughed. That was the most terrifying thing in her life until then. For her, it still ranked in the top 10 or so.

She turned him around. "I love you. Sirius will be fine, luv."

"I know but every time I leave him it worries me." He hugged her really tight. "Thanks love."

He picked up Teddy and got up for the day. He made breakfast with Teddy in the new saucer that he played in. "So, you'll be moving to Hogwarts today with us little man. I'm just glad we will have a kitchen so you and I can still do this. The only person we'll be missing is Sirius."

"I heard my name. What are you saying about me? How awesome and sexy and amazing I am?"

Harry laughed as Sirius came in followed by everyone including all the parents as they started eating.

"Don't worry about your luggage Masters and Mistresses. Dobby will deliver it to your rooms and make your flat as comfortable as home." Dobby said. "Mitzy will help."

"Thank you, Dobby." All four said.

"We better be going soon." Sirius said looking at the clock. "It's 9.45. Aren't you supposed to be there by ten?"

"Yes." Hermione began to get up when Nev had an idea.

"Dobby, could you and Mitzy bring us lunch on the train? Can you do that?"

"Of course, Master Neville." He grinned at the idea of bringing lunch.

"Well, let's go." Sirius said as he grabbed Emma and disapparated.

Everyone met there a few minutes later. They went through the barrier in twos except for Sirius, Emma and Dan—they went through together.

"This is amazing." Emma whispered as she looked up to the train.

"Come on Mum and Daddy." Mione grabbed their hands as everyone headed to the Heads' carriage. It was much roomier than most carriages and had padded seats.

"This is nice." Sirius whistled.

"Hasn't changed a bit since I was Prefect." Augusta and Xeno said simultaneously as everyone laughed.

"Never been in here before Sirius?" Dan asked.

"Too much of a trouble maker. Remus was the Prefect and James Head Boy-not me thank Merlin!" he laughed. He looked at his watch. "Well, we ought to go home so you kids can get settled." He began herding people off the train. As everyone separated into their own groups, Hermione went with her parents.

"Love, have a good term at school and don't get into trouble okay?" Emma warned.

"Yes Mum. I love you. You'll have to come to Hogsmeade on a Saturday so we can do some wedding planning yeah?" Hermione hugged her mum.

"Princess, have a good trip and take care of Harry, yeah?" Dan gave his girl a hug.

"Yes Daddy. I'll take good care of your son." She grinned as Dan blushed because, well, that was how Dan felt. He loved Harry as though he were a family member already.

Over with Sirius and Harry, they were just teasing each other. Eventually, Harry gave his godfather a hug and whispered, "I'm going to miss you Sirius."

"I'm going to miss you too kiddo."

After all the goodbyes were said, the quartet went back to their carriage. As eleven o'clock arrived, Prefects started coming in. Hermione had her polaroid camera out and took a picture of each Prefect and put their name on it.

"These are so everyone in your house knows who the Prefects are. We will come through this evening or tomorrow and post them on your boards." Harry said as he handed out schedules.

"You aren't going to introduce yourselves?" a Ravenclaw asked. The quartet looked startled.

"He's Harry Potter. He's famous and just assumes you know him." Ron said petulantly. Harry decided to ignore him.

"I'm Harry Potter, Head Boy, Gryffindor." And they introduced themselves. They were so shocked at introducing themselves that they went off the girls' script and never got back on it. About an hour and a half later, they were done explaining all the new rules and schedules.

Harry and Nev went on their first round of the train then. After saying hi to all their friends, they ran into Gin. "Harry, I heard from Demzela that Ron tried to start something in the carriage?" she asked.

"Yeah. But we just ignored it and went on." He smiled at her.

"Good. Just wanted to make sure everything was okay." She smiled at her friends.

At one, Dobby came in with food for the four and a few of the Prefects. It was a very uneventful trip-especially with no Malfoy on the train. Everyone just relaxed as Prefects came in to talk with them. Blaize Zabini and Daphne Greengrass, the Slytherin 7th year Prefects, came in and stayed a while as did several others.

When they finally got in the Thestral Carriages, Harry pondered, "I wonder if it's normal for the Prefects to gather together like we all did?"

"No. It's not. They usually have the meeting and you never see the Heads again really." Hermione answered.

"I think it's the fact that we weren't closed off. The door was always open so they were comfortable." Nev considered.

**HP**

When they got to the castle, they followed everyone else to the Great Hall. Like usual, Harry was a bit daunted by the grandness of it as he sat down. However, it was how familiar it felt that drove home that this was where he belonged.

"Nice being back, isn't it?" Mione asked.

"Yup." He grinned and kissed her. "I love it here."

He then began looking at the teachers. There was Sinistra, Babbling, Sprout, McGonagall, Sirius, Dora, Andromeda, someone he didn't know and Hagrid. Then his eyes went back: McGonagall, Sirius, Dora.

"Do you see Sirius up there?" Harry asked his lover.

"Yes. I wonder why?"

"He can't be teaching, can he?" Luna wondered.

"He has to be. He's sitting at their table." Nev rationalized.

That's when the first years came in. Harry was just staring at his godfather, trying to figure it out. Sirius just waved and grinned at the two couples. Before he knew it, McGonagall was in front of the table introducing people.

"Welcome student, whether you are joining us for your first year or your last. We have a few staffing changes this year and a few announcements. I will keep this brief and fill you in more after the meal. The Forbidden Forest is just that-Forbidden. We have three new teachers here. First, your new Defence Against The Dark Arts teacher is former Auror Dora Tonks Lupin." Dora stood with Teddy in her arms and waved as the students cheered. "The baby is her son Teddy. I'm sure he will be around. Your new Potions Professor is Sirius Black who is also the new Head of Gryffindor House." All the Gryffindors and the DA who knew him from the Battle cheered. "Andromeda Tonks will not actually be teaching this year. She is developing a course about Muggle and Magical Societies that will begin next year. She is also Professor Lupin's mother and Professor Black's cousin." She smiled at the rumbling from the students. "Finally, Professor Binns has moved on and Professor Jaime Richardson will now be teaching Magical and Muggle History together. Now eat up, there will be more announcements at the end of the Feast." She waved her wand and the tables were filled.

"I'll be right back." Harry said. No one questioned him because of the thunderous look on his face as he marched up to Sirius. "Sirius! How dare you scare me like that. You made me think I wasn't to see you until at least Hogsmeade. I've been worried sick with you at home and your dangerous job. And when did you get good with Potions?"

"Who do you think came up with most the potions we used in school. Sure wasn't Remus!" He laughed. He got up and came around to hug his godson. "Couldn't exactly let you go back here alone, could I? My family is here." He squeezed Harry again. "Go sit down kiddo." He sat back at his seat as Harry went back to his table.

"How do you know Harry Potter?" Professor Richardson asked curiously.

"He's my godson." He grinned proudly at the new, strawberry-blond woman in her thirties with sparkling blue eyes, that Sirius had only met the previous day at the staff meeting. He held out his hand. "I know we met yesterday but I thought I'd formally introduce myself. I am Sirius Black. You are?" He cocked an eyebrow. She put her hand in his and he brought it to his lips.

"I'm Jaime Richardson."

"An honor to meet you, Ms. Richardson." He smiled at her. "Is your accent American?"

"Yes. California to be precise."

"Wonderful. I always wanted to visit there. What brings you to Scotland?"

"I got this job, see?" she laughed. It was a musical laugh that Sirius couldn't help but laugh with. _This woman was enchanting!_ Sirius thought.

**HP**

At the Gryffindor table, Harry was eating at quite a fast pace. Of course all the Heads were doing it because they knew they'd be called on after to introduce the Prefects.

After they ate, they got the polaroid's out and organised them. Again. Harry was fidgeting and Hermione knew better than to try to figure out what was wrong so she just put her hand on his arm as he went through the binder that the girls had put together. Again.

When everyone was done, McGonagall stood again. "We, as a school, have an odd situation this year. We could not decide on just one Head Boy and Girl. So we named two of each." She waved to them and the quartet came up. "Your Head Boys are Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom." The amount of cheering was mind-blowing to the boys. "And the Head Girls are Hermione Granger and Luna Lovegood. They will explain some of the changes here at Hogwarts because they instigated them. They will also introduce you to your house prefects." She strode behind the table.

Harry ceded the floor to Hermione with a grin as she glared at him. "As you all know who we are, let's start with introducing you to your Prefects. These are the people you go to if you know a person is not at the table and a teacher comes in and says there's a troll in the dungeon. Instead of going to find the girl yourself and fighting the troll to save the girl's life, you go to these people and report it. Yes that happened my first year. I was in the bathroom and Harry here and Ron Weasley came to get me when they heard about the troll. They should have gone to their prefects instead of fighting the thing alone." All the 7th year Lions laughed. She took a deep breath and held up a picture. "When I call your name stand up and remain standing please." She began calling names. When everyone stood up, she said. "We will be putting these polaroid pictures on your boards in your common room. There will always be a prefect in the common rooms during off hours if you need help. The Head's suite is next to the DADA classroom and one of us will be in there at the same times. Come if you need anything. We will do all we can to help you, include tutoring if needed."

"We will also probably have Teddy Lupin in our rooms because he and his godfather, Harry, are attached at the arm as you can see." Luna commented. That got loads of laughter. While Mione was talking, Harry had gone to get Teddy and was now back with his friends.

"We are also going to have a Yule Ball the day before break." Harry added as he held up his hands for silence. "Yes, it is open to all years."

"I think that's all for now." Nev closed as he went to sit down.

Harry turned around to see Dora and Andromeda and Sirius and Professor Richardson talking. He went to Dora first. "Dora. I'm going to take Teddy with me. Is the nursery set up?"

"Of course. You might want to put him down soon." She thought aloud.

"That's what I was planning." He leaned Teddy over for her to give him a kiss.

"Sirius?" Harry asked his godfather, noticing how he kept his hand on the professor's arm. _This could be interesting. Better get her involved in the family now if Sirius is interested in her,_ he thought.

"Yeah Pup?"

"Breakfast tomorrow? Our place?"

"Yup. Usual time?"

"Yup."

"You're welcome to join us Professor Richardson. I cook breakfast in the mornings and since we all live together, we eat together." He gave his godfather a stern look. "That will not change, will it Padfoot?"

"Of course not, pup." Sirius grinned.

"That would be lovely. What time?" she asked.

"I'll pick you up at 6.45, yeah?" Sirius volunteered.

"Thank you, Sirius" Professor Richardson acknowledged before she left and they set on their way to the kids' flat.

"Pads, what were you doing?" Harry asked his godfather.

"Just getting to know the new Professor. Thanks for inviting her."

"Padfoot, I saw your—what's it called—yes, your charm factor go up at least five notches when you were talking to her." Mione reminded him.

"What's wrong with being charming to a beautiful, single coworker?" he asked, trying to sound innocent. As Harry went to do Teddy's bedtime routine with him, everyone else sat down. Dora came from Harry and Hermione's bedroom a few minutes later with a few binders in her hands.

By the time Harry got there, Dobby was delivering hot cocoa. "So, Dobby, are you staying here because there's no one at home?"

"Yes Harry. I closed up the house today"

"Don't blame Dobby. I asked him not to tell you I was teaching. I wanted to see the look on your face-and it was priceless!" Sirius burst out laughing as though he'd been holding it too long.

"Yeah. I thought you were going to kill him Harry." Nev gasped.

"I thought about it. Then I thought that there were too many witnesses." Harry grumbled.

"What are you doing Dora?" Sirius asked.

"I'm trying to make sure first lessons are going to be okay." She didn't look up as she flipped through one binder

"Dora, do you want to feed Teddy or should I?" Harry queried as he strode into the sitting room.

"You. I'm busy." She told him distractedly as she ran her hands through her hair.

"Okay." He sat down next to her as a bottle appeared on the table. "Do you need help Dora?"

Her head moved so fast, it looked like it would tumble off her neck. Her face brightened. "You've taught defence before. How would you start a first-year class off tomorrow?" she asked.

Harry thought for a few moments. "I suppose if it were my class, I'd start talking about why defence is so important. I'd use Riddle as an example and talk about why he became what he did. I'd talk about how he gained so much influence. I'd talk about how people could have stopped him before he got to killing people. It's important they know that defence isn't just about spell work but about watching things around you." He looked up as he put Teddy to his shoulder. Everyone was staring at him. "What'd I say? Did I say something wrong? Those are just ideas guys." He asked confused.

Dora squealed and hugged Harry, squishing her son in the process. "I have three afternoon firsties tomorrow, could you come in and speak? That's brilliant. I hadn't even thought of that aspect."

He looked at Mione and she nodded. "Sure Dora but we're going to get questions about the war, you know. You may have to talk about Remus." He warned.

She took a deep breath as though steeling herself. "I can do that." She nodded. Dora finished her cocoa and got up. "I'll see you all tomorrow morning." She walked out of the flat.

"I've got to go too." Sirius stood and stretched. "See you tomorrow." And the four were finally alone in their own flat.

"I think I'm going to go to bed." Harry got up as they all realised how tired they were and decided to follow suit.


	28. Chapter 28

**Ch. 28**

**A/N Now that they've gotten back to school, the dates I've put in will be more spread out. There will be some gaps in the dates.**

**A/N2 I'm currently writing about Christmas in England. As I am not British, I was wondering if any of you who may be British or have lived there, could help me with getting that part of the story right. Please PM me if you can help. Thanks. R & R please**

**Wednesday 2 Sept 1998 Hogwarts**

Harry woke up the next morning before Teddy. He went into the sitting room to look at the notes he and Mione made last night after they'd gone to bed about what he wanted to say to the young ones.

Now, instead of waking Mione up, he decided to come out here and make sure it looked okay. Soon, however, Teddy called and Godfather Harry was on duty. He went through the whole morning routine and went out to make breakfast. About halfway through cooking, Sirius and Jaime showed up. Harry noted with a small smile that Jaime's hand was tucked into Sirius' arm. Then Dora arrived, then the residents of the flat.

As they sat down, Harry posed a query. "Why is it that last night we all ended up using this flat like we use the game room at home? Why not Dora's or Sirius'?"

"My place is a bloody mess already. You wouldn't want to come to my flat." Sirius grinned.

"We could use mine but I'm a slob." Dora chuckled. "Remus was the clean one. Not me."

"Do you have a problem with that Harry?" Sirius asked, concerned he may be stepping on Harry's toes a bit.

"No. However, we are going to be studying for NEWTs so we might be in the library or something. You can all come in but we may not be here." He smiled. Looking at Dobby, he added nodding at Dora and Sirius, "Can you please clean up those two's flats too?"

"Of course, Harry Potter Sir." He grinned.

Sirius got the messenger bag he'd brought from his place out and handed out papers. "These are your schedules. Looks like most of you only have morning classes."

"That's great." Nev looked at his schedule. "Herbology first today guys." He grinned.

"Who's taking care of Teddy today?" Harry asked.

"Dobby and Mum will be doing that." Dora grinned.

"He can stay with me in the afternoons." He responded.

"I think Mum might fight you for him. She's looking forward to this."

Harry looked at his watch and got up. "Looks like we've got to go. Herbology will take a while to get to."

"Yes. We best be off." Dora agreed as she picked up her son and her bag. "I'll see everyone at lunch."

"Okay." Sirius concurred. As they were leaving, Harry heard Sirius say, "Jaime, may I escort you to your class? I know some shortcuts you may find useful."

"Thank you, Sirius. That'd be lovely."

As the younger and elder generations split up, Harry grinned. "I think Professor Richardson is interested in Sirius. He's interested in her too, I think. I mean, he shows up here with her arm tucked in his. That says something."

"Yes. We could be adding a new family member soon." Mione laughed at the horror-struck look on the boys' faces.

**HP**

The morning classes went well for the Head Couples. Although they did hear talk of Sirius in Herbology and COMC that morning, they ignored peoples' questions about if he was dating anyone.

When they got to Potions a full ten minutes early, a record for Harry and Nev, they wanted to talk to Sirius.

"Hey Padfoot." Harry called as he walked in. Sirius was at the ingredient cupboard looking through it.

"Hey yourselves." He looked up and grinned. It was so nice to see his godson every day, it always brought a smile to his face.

"Could you pleeease get a girlfriend? I'm getting harassed by classmates about your love life. It's tiring."

"Really?" He looked pleased with himself. "They've got good taste."

Harry looked at Mione and threw himself in a chair as he just shook his head. She just put her arm around him. "Don't let it get to you love. It'll only encourage him." She kissed his temple. "And remember, I love you."

He looked up at her and felt this overwhelming gratitude and love for the stunning witch in front of him. "I love you, too." He turned to kiss her. What he intended to be a peck on the lips turned into a passionate kiss as Mione grabbed his hair and began tugging on it. At that, Harry deepened the kiss by running his tongue over her lips as she let him in with an almost feral groan. As they explored each other's mouth, Hermione moved so she was straddling Harry and could feel his arousal, which only enflamed hers. His hands were moving to her breasts when they heard. "Merlin, Potter! At least get a room if you're going to have your way with who should be my girl. You don't have to do it in front of me." Which pulled them apart as fast as ice water to the face.

Harry stood up after Hermione scrambled off him, having that 'just snogged' look on her face.

"Weasley, Mione is not property. She is a beautiful, amazing woman that was never yours to begin with." He stated firmly and slowly as he looked his former best mate in the eyes. "Just because you kissed once doesn't mean she's yours."

Luna came up to Harry and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. Then she looked at Mione. "Sorry Mione, guess he's mine now." Everyone started laughing as they had come in and heard what had transpired.

As Sirius saw cauldrons being taken out, he blew an air horn. Everyone jumped and a few cauldrons fell over. When everyone looked up, he had a wide smile on his face. "Now that I have everyone's attention, please put away your cauldrons." When everyone did, he smiled. "As you know, my name is Professor Black. Most of you have heard my name as the one who killed 12 muggles and betrayed my best friend. Well, I didn't do any of that. When the Potters went into hiding, they hid their house with the Fidelus charm. Only a person that they chose would be able to tell someone where they lived. Even if you were told by the Secretkeeper, you couldn't tell someone else. They were going to name me secretkeeper but I thought I was too obvious. Your former professor Remus Lupin was another option but he was away when they went into hiding, so they chose our other friend Peter Pettigrew. He led Voldemort to the Potters. After I realised James was dead, I went after Peter. He blasted the street and hid in his animagus form, a rat, until I escaped Azkaban. So now you know the whole story. Now onto more fun topics." He gave his charming smile. "Are there any questions?"

"If Pettigrew is an animagus, are you too?" Parvati asked. Sirius changed into Padfoot and walked around from behind his desk. "Oh Merlin." They heard a few girls say as Padfoot did his doggy grin and turned back into Sirius.

"To answer your question, yes." He laughed. "Now onto more interesting topics. Yes, I am Harry Potter's godfather and we now live in Crawley in a muggle neighbourhood. I am someone who enjoys a good joke, loves Potions and is about as different as you can get from your previous greasy Professor. Believe it or not, potions can be very useful. Whether it is helping a werewolf keep his mind during transformations or making someone's hair neon green for fun, potions can get you out of a jam in a lot of ways." He flipped the chalkboard. "Now, let's begin learning. I have a lot to teach you and not enough time to do it."

**HP**

After class, some students came up to Sirius and said things like, "Thanks, I haven't learned so much about Potions in seven years." Or "I can't wait to start brewing." Sirius took this like you would expect-he was smug, preening under the praise.

As he and the two couples were walking to lunch, he asked "Nev, I know we didn't do any brewing today but was it helpful?" Sirius asked sincerely. He wanted to help his friends' son get his confidence in Potions this year. He so loved this new version of Neville, one that Frankie would be so proud of, that he would do anything to help his confidence. If that meant he taught Potions so he could give, not only Neville, but all the students, that love and confidence in Potions that he had, then so be it.

"Yeah. You explained things we were never taught; like why you crush and not slice. I'm looking forward to seeing if I can do better than the last seven years." He grinned at Padfoot.

As they got towards the Great Hall, Sirius got a little more excited than he should have or, at least, that's what Mione thought. "Padfoot, did you do something we should know about?" she asked skeptically.

"No. Nothing." He replied as he left the kids for the adult table. _Boy was that weird. Him sitting with the Professors?_ Sirius thought to himself as he eyed Jaime's red hair and smiled.

Harry looked at his friends. "Don't drink anything. He's playing some prank—I know it." He sighed.

"Maybe we should only eat food cooked in our quarters?" Nev suggested with a wry grin.

"He's not that bad. He had all summer and didn't play one prank." Luna defended her nearly Uncle.

"Yeah. That's why he needs to now." Mione replied. "I remember staying in Grimmauld last year and he and Remus were telling stories that you wouldn't want to happen. Apparently, one day any time you went through this one door, you were naked for two minutes. That sort of stuff."

"Oh." Luna paused. "Yes, best to not touch the food. We can eat when we get back." They had learned that the Head Students had to be in the Great Hall for one meal a day at least so students could talk to them. They had all agreed on it being lunch.

As lunch was served, laughter was heard throughout the hall. They looked around and found students and teachers alike all had vomit green hair-except the Head Students. Even Sirius, Jaime, and McGonagall had green hair.

"How'd you not get hit?" a third-year Claw asked Harry, who was laughing at Seamus as he admired his new hair.

"We didn't eat or drink anything." Harry replied simply. "I recognised the look on Si—Professor Black's face after Potions and knew he had something planned."

"How long will this last?" she asked pointing to her hair.

"No idea." Nev answered.

It was then they heard McGonagall look at herself in Dora's mirror. "SIRIUS BLACK! YOU ARE NO LONGER A CHILD-" and then the silencing charm went up.

Now the whole school was looking up at the head table as they saw one Professor cower in front of the Headmistress as Jaime was obviously giggling. Harry and Nev got a kick out of that and couldn't help but laugh.

**HP**

After lunch, Dora met up with Harry and led him to her classroom. "So, how'd your other classes go this morning Dora?" Harry asked.

"Well. I had a fourth, third and another fourth this morning. They all asked about Remus but seemed to want to learn." She answered. "Are you ready for your little lesson?"

"Yeah." He took a deep breath as he walked in the defence room. "I think so." As he said this, the first first-years came streaming in and sitting down.

When everyone was seated, Dora started off, "I am Professor Lupin. Welcome to Defence Against the Dark Arts. This is my first-year teaching, I've been an Auror for several years previously. As you have probably heard this last year, we fought a war against a dark arts practitioner and his forces. The young man who stopped this maniac is none other than your own Head Boy Harry Potter. He would like to talk to you about how to fight someone who practices dark magic." She smiled at Harry who came into the center of the room.

"Can someone tell me how you determine if someone is practicing dark magic?"

"If they're in Slytherin?" a Ravenclaw shouted.

Harry chuckled. "So anyone in Slytherin practices dark magic, is that what you're saying?" he asked as the girl nodded. "Yet the man who betrayed my parents was a Gryffindor." He commented. "Anyone else?"

When no one answered, he said. "In my experience anyone can be a dark wizard. You can't tell by looking at a person whether they'll fall into the dark arts. Tom Riddle or the man styling himself Lord Voldemort was once a top student here at Hogwarts. He was even Head Boy." Everyone gasped at this. "He was also an orphan half-blood. Yes he was a descendant of Slytherin on his mum's side but had a muggle father. His mum died in childbirth and his father never knew him. He stayed in a muggle orphanage until Professor Dumbledore gave him his letter. There was nothing evil that the Professor could see but he did watch Tom because he felt there wasn't something right with the boy."

"How do you know so much about him?" A Hufflepuff asked.

"Before the Professor died, he gave me information that he had about Riddle so I may destroy him more easily." He sighed. "As I am trying to get at, even though the Professor knew there was something wrong with Tom, he couldn't put his finger on it until it was too late to see Tom had already fallen to the dark. What I'm trying to say is the best defence to see who is going to fall to the dark is to be on your guard and watch signs in your friends, family and acquaintances that they are acting differently or are interested in the darker spells. The Professor told me himself, if he had been more vigilant in watching Tom during his school days, he might have been able to head off the creation of Lord Voldemort."

"Why didn't he then?"

"I think he was so worried about Grindelwald that he was distracted and couldn't watch everyone."

"I think what Harry is saying is that the best defence against the dart arts is to watch how people act and if they're acting out of character to look more thoroughly at their behavior." Dora concluded.

"So why learn spells to combat the dark arts if all we have to do is watch people?" The same Hufflepuff asked.

"Good question." Harry smiled. "Mainly because there is going to come a time when a new Dark Wanker, as my Godfather puts it, rises and you need to be prepared. And quite frankly, some of the spells are just good to know."

"Thank you, Harry. That is all for today." Dora dismissed her class as the bell rang. She looked at Harry. "Two more classes." She sighed as Harry laughed as new students came in.

**HP**

When Sirius got done with his first day of teaching, he was exhausted. However, he decided that instead of going to bed he would go for his pick me up of the last few days.

He wandered into Jaime's classroom and saw her sitting at her desk, hunched over a planner. He knocked on the door and came in as he saw her look up and grin at him.

"Hey, how'd your first day go?" She asked.

"Good. Very tiring but good." He sighed as he leaned on the corner of her desk. "How was yours?"

"Same. I'm going to finish up here and eventually go to dinner." She smiled at him and he felt his heart beat a little faster.

"Well, I can help if you'd like." Sirius suggested.

"That'd be wonderful." She looked at her watch.

He looked a little worried.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Well, I won't be going to the Great Hall for dinner. I'll be in Harry's quarters. Would you like to join us?" He asked a little hesitantly.

"Of course. That'd be great, as long as they're okay with it." She was a little worried at how Sirius' family was just including her in their lives. She didn't want to overstay her welcome. She really liked the animagus and could see something coming from this dance they were doing and didn't want to bungle it.

"They will be." He smiled at her and her heart nearly stopped. Damn he was hot! "I'll see you in a while, love." He winked at her as he left.

**HP**

After Dora's last class, she and Harry went through her quarters to get to his. It was there that they saw Luna and Nev with Teddy.

"Why is Teddy not with mum?" Dora asked.

"Your mum had to go home and thought you might want him here when you were done today." Luna supplied. "We've been here since lunch and he finally went down a little while ago." She pointed to the corner where there was a bassinet with her son in it as she gave Dora the run-down.

Dora smiled. "Thanks for taking care of him."

"No problem. He's family." Nev grinned as he propped open their front door. "So, Harry, how'd your lecture go today?"

Harry flopped down on a chair and summoned a butterbeer. "Pretty well, I think. Very scary but pretty well."

Nev snorted. "It always surprises me what you're afraid of. You'll kill Voldemort but be scared of first-years."

"I keep telling you, I didn't have to think when I killed Voldemort, I did before each class." He tried to explain.

"You've always been nervous if you have to think about it but just going on instinct is easy for you." Hermione added as she came in the room. Harry took the pile of books she was carrying and put them on the counter. "Thanks love."

"Research for inventions or classwork?" He lifted an eyebrow.

"Inventions." She curled up next to him on the sofa. "Is this the furniture from the game room?" she asked.

"Yes, Miss Hermione." Dobby answered from the kitchen. "I transferred most everything from the game room here. I wants to know if you want me to expand this room and put the pool table in."

"Yes please." Both boys said simultaneously as the girls laughed.

"Dobby, you had to know the answer, yeah?" Dora grinned.

"Yes, buts I wanted to make sure." He also had a big grin on his face.

A knock was heard on their open front door. Harry turned towards the open door and saw a first year Slytherin waiting. He kissed Mione on the head and stood up. "Come on in. How can we help you?" he asked as the little girl came in and sat with Harry at the kitchen table.

"Well, you said that we could come talk to you when we needed something, yeah?" she asked in a very timid voice.

"Yes, sweetheart. Is something wrong?" he returned. She seemed to hesitate as though uncertain how to begin. Seeing this, he began for her. "Why don't you tell me who you are having trouble with?"

"The redheaded prefect." She looked terrified.

"Okaaaay. What did he do?" Harry prompted.

"Well, yesterday he took 10 points because my friend and I were skipping down the hall to our common room. Then today we were running late for transfiguration and he takes 50 points each." She said all in one breath.

"And you don't want to be late for that class your first day, yeah?" He laughed remembering his own first day. "Did McGonagall threaten to turn one of you into a watch so the other wouldn't be late?"

Hermione giggled at that as the girl nodded. "She did the same thing to Harry and Ron first day too."

The girl giggled. "Don't worry. I'll take care of it. We'll make sure you're given some of those points back." Hermione laughed. "It is a good idea not to run in the halls though, yeah?"

"Yes, ma'am." She said more soberly.

"I will talk to Ron about how he deducts points as well." Nev assured the girl.

"What is your name, so I can look up the points?" Harry enquired.

"Sally Winslow." She replied.

"Okay." He groaned as he got up. "Nev and I will take care of it now, yeah?"

Sally wrapped her arms around him. "Thank you, sir." She mumbled as she bolted out the door.

"Good job love."

"Nice going mate."

"You were very good with her Harry."

He went a little red as he checked to see if Teddy was still asleep. He was. Then he looked at Nev who was now standing. "See Ron, yeah?" he asked.

"On my way." Nev wanted to make this possible confrontation between the ex- best friends as easy for his godbrother as he could. If dealing with Weasley would help that along, so be it.

"Use the map to find him." Harry added as he left to see McGonagall.

When he got to her office, he was surprised the gargoyle was already open. He went up the escalator and knocked on the door. "Come in." He heard McGonagall's comfortable Scottish brogue call out. Even after all this time, it fascinated him that her voice was very reassuring to him.

This thought made him smile as he walked in. "Hello Professor."

"Hello Harry. What can I do for you?" She asked as he looked around the office. Unlike Dumbledore's cluttered mess that he used to come to for lessons, this room was now very tastefully decorated with the tartan the Headmistress was known for wearing. The desk was neat and the walls were covered in bookshelves. Over near the fire, where she had offered him a seat, were a sofa and two highbacked chairs. There were green tartan blankets on the sofa and chairs as well.

Harry noticed all this with the practiced eye of one who had to take in a situation and make a split-second decision in battle as he sat down. "What can I help you with Harry?"

"Well, we got a visitor a little while ago. A Slytherin firstie named Sally Winslow. Apparently, she and her friend were skipping around the school yesterday and Ronald docked them 10 points each for it. Then today he docked them 50 each for running to your class." He grinned. "By the way, the cat's out of the bag that you use that pocket watch threat every year. We informed her I got the same comment."

She smiled. "Well, it has the preferred effect. You've never been late to my class again, I don't believe." At his nod, she said. "So she came to you with this complaint?"

"Yes. I know it's technically against the rules to be skipping or running in the corridors—but 120 points, that's excessive in my opinion. I also know, from my fiancée making me read the prefect and Head handbook last week," He grimaced and she smiled serenely, "that standard practice is 10 points for an infraction of this type. Can we deduct the right amount of points, Professor?"

She beamed at Harry. She just knew he would make a brilliant Head Boy and was extremely satisfied with the decision. "Of course. I'm glad the students feel comfortable coming to you." She sighed as she thought about Mr. Weasley. "What do you suggest is done with Mr. Weasley? He has to learn how to enforce these rules properly or he cannot be Prefect."

"I have to check with the other Heads but I was thinking a general Prefect meeting to discuss how points are applied and deducted. I don't know what to do from then on though. Hope it stops?" He asked.

"Well, I think a Prefect meeting is a good idea. If there is a second issue with Mr. Weasley, he would get a warning. On a third, his badge would be taken. Those are the rules in the Heads Handbook."

He groaned. "I must have missed it. Mione would've known the answer."

She laughed. "Don't worry Harry. You are doing a wonderful job as Head. Have you talked to Mr. Weasley yet?"

"Nev is doing it right now."

"Good." She got up and ushered him to the door. "Keep me informed about how the Prefect meeting goes, please."

"Yes Ma'am. Thank you for your time." He smiled at her.

"Anytime Harry. Anytime." She repeated as he left the office.

**HP**

When he got back to his flat, The Family plus Jaime were sprawled out talking. He found Nev and sat near him. "How'd it go with Ron?"

"He's a bloody nightmare. I've always known he had a temper but he was pissed off that someone had reported him." Nev groaned. "I think we should have a Prefect meeting to talk about point deductions."

Harry laughed. "I told McGonagall we might do that."

**HP**

"Harry, Sirius tells me you do most the caretaking when you're home. Is he exaggerating?" Jaime asked at dinner that night.

"No." Nev intervened. "Even when Teddy got colds this summer, he slept with Harry and the way Mione tells it he sleeps in the bed with them."

"He would sleep in your bed too if he decided to have his beautiful Aunt's eyes and my hair!" he exclaimed as he looked into his Mione's amazing eyes.

"You mean this isn't how he always looks?"

"Jaime, he got my metamorph talents." Dora informed the newest member of The Extended Family. She turned her hair from its normal brown and pink to yellow and black stripes.

"Wow." She sighed. "Is it okay if I tell Mark I've met you? We hear about them in the states but have never seen one. He's going to want to meet you in November!" she said in a rush.

"Of course. Is this Mark a boyfriend?" she raised an eyebrow.

"No. My brother. I think I'm interested in someone else anyway."


	29. Chapter 29

**Ch. 29**

**Thursday 3 September 1998**

The next morning, Harry woke to the beautiful whines of his godson. He jumped out of bed and ran through his godson's door and found him kicking up a storm. "Hey little guy. How's my boy?" He picked the little man up to change and feed him. By this time, he was a pro at getting this done quickly and easily. He took Teddy to his room and went in to take a shower. When he got out of the bathroom, his love was sitting in the rocking chair playing with the baby.

"Mione, the shower's free. I can take the little man now." He smiled as she handed Teddy over.

"Here you go. You men go make breakfast while I get dressed." She smirked at her fiancé as she sashayed into the bathroom with only the revealing top she wore to bed on. Looking at her long, shapely legs did not help him calm down—especially when she moved like that. If it wasn't for Teddy, he be joining her! He had noticed that their bath was almost a duplicate of the Prefect's bathroom-meaning that it had plenty of room for two in the shower and the tub. Might make an interesting wash up tonight, he grinned as he worked in the kitchen.

Soon, The Family was seated at a magically extended table with Professor Richardson. "Professor, where did you get your mastery?" Mione asked.

"Everyone, please call me Jaime when we're not in class." She smiled as she kissed Teddy's hand.

"Okay." Everyone agreed.

"I got my undergraduate degree at Stanford and my Doctorate at Princeton." She explained. "Then I got my History of Magic Mastery at Ilvermorny. It's been a hard few years but I'm glad I did it. What I'd like to know is how someone who doesn't have a Mastery ends up a Potions teacher." She looked at Sirius.

"Well, let's just say I learned my potions ability on the staff and students of Hogwarts in the seventies." He laughed.

"Pranks?" she got a gleam in her eyes Harry had only seen when Sirius talked about the Marauders.

Sirius looked down as though he was ashamed. Everybody knew it was a lie except Jaime.

"Jaime, don't let him fool you. He, my husband, Harry's dad and another were known for their pranks. And they loved it almost as much as they enjoyed telling the stories." Dora laughed at the 'caught-me' look Sirius had.

"I was known for my pranking abilities at Ilvermorny." Jaime laughed at which point Sirius looked up excited.

"Can you help me? I'm looking for something—wait until we leave then we can talk." He winked at her.

Breakfast went on with everyone enjoying each other's company. Once breakfast was finished, the two couples headed out to the grounds while the three teachers went to their classrooms.

**Sunday 6 September 1998**

The Heads decided to have an after-dinner Prefect meeting in their flat on Sunday night. By now, the drawing room was an exact duplicate of their game room at home. It had the sitting area around the fire, the game area with the pool table and dart board and the bar area. This new drawing room now had a smallish, by comparison to the one at home, kitchen that opened on to the drawing room. There were also the two en suites, one off each end of the drawing room.

When everyone filed into the game room, the male prefects were just staring, the girls just sat down as though nothing was wrong.

"Everyone, please take a seat so we can get started." Neville sat down.

"How did you get such nice rooms?" someone asked.

"Oh, he always gets the best of everything. Whatever the great Harry Potter wants, he gets." Ron muttered loudly.

Looking at the Ravenclaw girl that asked, Harry replied. "House elves have amazing magic. Ours enlarged this room and brought our game room here."

"So, you have a house elf who works for you?" a Hufflepuff sighed.

"Actually, he works for Professor Black but I freed him from the Malfoys at the end of second year so he and I are good friends." He answered. "Anyway, we called you here to talk about the points deducted and given."

The discussion lasted about an hour as they went over what the standard deductions and applications of points were and how to apply them.

After this, Luna summed it up. "Basically, if you don't follow these guidelines, you will get one warning, then the badge will be taken away. Does everyone understand?"

"We've already had to go to give one warning, we really don't want to do this again." Hermione emphasized.

Soon, the Prefects were leaving the flat and the four friends were heading off to bed.

**HP**

The next day began the students' first full week of classes. It began to be a regular occurrence for Jaime to arrive for breakfast with Sirius. At times, she would help Harry get breakfast on the table as well. They'd each go off to do their individual classes and meet up after the day was done.

Sirius and Jaime were getting closer all week as well. One afternoon, Sirius and Jaime were taking their daily walk around the lake talking about their students when Sirius mentioned he'd be gone most of the next day due to Wizengamot business. This led to a long discussion about the government and how corrupt it was and how they were trying to fix it.

As they were walking back into the castle, headed for Harry's flat, Jaime commented a little worriedly. "It sounds like you have two almost full-time jobs. How are you going to manage it?"

"We'll see if I do." He laughed. "One thing that's working out really well is that Augusta Longbottom and I work very well together. She's great at picking up any slack I drop."

"Who is she, now?"

"That'd be my Gran." Nev interrupted as they walked through the door.

"My Gran too!" Harry chimed in.

"But you're not brothers, right?"

"Nope. Godbrothers. My mum is Harry's godmum and his is mine. We should have been raised together but we weren't"

Noticing the anger on both boys' faces, she decided not to probe that angle.

As Sirius summoned a butterbeer, he enquired, "So, how'd school go today boys?"

"Fine." Harry answered simply as he heard Teddy crying and went to get him.

Sirius looked at Nev, knowing something was wrong with Harry because he usually gets a rant about school in answer to that question. "Okay, Nev. What happened or do I need to know about it?"

"We're both a little stressed." Nev shrugged. "Weasley is upset because Harry and I are so close now and he is trying to make us feel bad about that. What's really bugging Harry I think is that Weasley and he would still be friends if Weasley could have gotten over his jealousy."

Sirius shook his head as he racked the balls. "Wanna play?" he smirked at Nev. He got a nod in return. "So where are the girls?"

"Where do you think they are?" He smirked at the man filling in for his own Dad in a lot of ways. Nev was constantly surprised at how much he looked up to and relied on Sirius as a father-like figure in the short time he'd known him. He wondered if it was because Sirius knew and liked his real dad.

"Ours or Hogwarts'?" Sirius rolled his eyes.

Nev laughed that they even had to ask that question. "I know they were at least starting in Hogwarts' library but I don't know if they're still there."

Jaime gasped with a grin. "You have your own library?"

Sirius and Nev looked at each other and burst out laughing as Sirius groaned. "Yes. Mione and Luna built it this summer." He paused in thought. "You might actually want to go there sometime because Mione has bought lots of history books."

"That sounds like fun." She grinned.

"Nev, I think I got involved with another library nerd. James gets Lily. You get Luna. Harry gets Mione and I get Jaime." He groaned jokingly.

"Just because I like books doesn't mean I'm a nerd." Jaime shot back. "Besides what's wrong with being a nerd?"

"Nothing, love." He said as he gave her a peck on the cheek.

**16 September 1998**

Wednesday afternoon, after all classes had been over for an hour or so, a line of teachers showed up at the door. Nev looked up and grinned. "I don't think we'd need to tutor any of you in schoolwork, so come in and tell us what's up."

Sirius, Jaime and Dora laughed outright at this while Flitwick, Sprout and McGonagall both gave a chuckle or a smile as they came in and sat down. "That is not why we are here, Mr. Longbottom." Minerva said seriously.

"Why are you here Professor?" Hermione asked.

"As you know, we have an extra-large group of first and second years this year because only purebloods were allowed to attend last year." Minerva began. "As such, the load for our teachers is a lot more than usual. We know you four are going to go for your masteries next year. One of the requirements for your masteries is 3 years teaching experience."

"We were wondering if you four would be willing to take on some of our extra load?" Professor Flitwick asked. "You would be teaching first through third year classes in the afternoons."

"I have no teaching experience at all." Hermione fretted.

"We will guide you through the process. We've each taught new teachers before, so it should be fairly easy." Jaime submitted.

"We'll spend the next few days with you teaching you what to know." Dora smiled.

"What do you think Sirius?" Nev asked.

"I think you four would make brilliant teachers. The kids would be lucky to get you." He replied solemnly.

During this whole conversation, Harry and Hermione were doing their silent talking thing. After Sirius made his opinion known, Harry sighed. "We'll do it. But we'll need help."

"Of course." Dora grinned.

"We will too." Luna piped up.

"Amazing." Flitwick smiled. "Why don't we split up and we can talk to you individually? Ms. Lovegood, come with me please." Luna hopped off the kitchen bench she was sitting on and followed Flitwick out. Dora and Harry went to her office. Sprout and Nev went to the greenhouses which left Mione and Jaime in the game room.

Jaime brought out her bag and began unloading it. "I have everything we need here." She said as Hermione summoned a soda and shook her head bemusedly.

**HP**

The next morning when everyone, which now included Jaime in the mix, congregated for breakfast, Sirius commented. "Are either of you boys busy with anything this afternoon?"

They looked at each other and shrugged. "Not that we know of." Harry replied.

"Great. After you're done with any studying you give me a call. Your Gran and I may want you to come to the ministry today."

"Okay."

**HP**

After lunch, the Heads went back to their flat to work on essays for History and Transfiguration. "You know, Professor Richardson is basically dating my Godfather, why is she giving us an essay the first week? She knows how busy we are." Harry complained.

"Harry!" Mione hissed. "Don't expect special treatment because she eats breakfast and dinner with us! You don't want her accused of favoritism, do you?"

"Well, no. Still, it's two pages on the contributions of magicals to the Crusades."

"Well, at least she'll be able to read it. You'll print it from the computer, yeah?" Mione remarked. "Merlin knows I'm the only other person who can read your chicken scratch!"

**HP**

The boys didn't get to Wizengamot that day because they each wrote not only their papers for Transfiguration and History but also Charms and Potions which weren't due until the end of next week.

In reality, the only reason they got the work done was Mione and Luna already owned the books they needed and they were on the Omni-Reader they'd brought from home.

At dinner, after getting an overview on Wizengamot procedures from Sirius, Harry looked at Jaime and grinned. "We finished your essay this afternoon and we barely used the text."

She looked suspiciously at them. "Then how'd you reference it?"

"Our girlfriends are geniuses. We used the Omni-Reader and accessed our library at home." Nev grinned at Luna. By this time both girls were blushing.

"I gotta see this library." She muttered as everyone laughed.

**Friday 18 September, 1998 Hogwarts**

Like every morning, it started for Harry with his Teddy-Wake-Up-Call. For some reason Harry was more tired than usual but he felt it his job to make breakfast, so they went to the kitchen and started it.

A brief knock to the door let Harry know who it was "Jaime! Just come in!" He pitched his voice so she could hear.

"Hi Harry. Need some help?" she asked as she put her long hair up in a clip.

"Sure. But you know what I need even more than that?" He grinned at her.

"What?" She asked as she moved around the kitchen.

"I need you to stop knocking every time you come in." He gave her his lopsided grin. "You've become a part of this family. Whether you two admit it to each other or not, you and Sirius are a couple. From the way he looks at you, he's never going to let you go. Accept it. We all love you. Yes, that's partly to do with how much Sirius dotes on you but also because you're you. I mean, how late have you stayed here the past couple of nights helping Hermione get ready to teach? Quite frankly, you're one of two people that is helping her not turn into Hurricane Hermione about her teaching starting next week. You. Are. A. Part. Of. This. Family. So, stop bloody knocking!"

Jaime had started to smile while Harry went on his mini-rant but at the end was grinning. "Okay. I won't knock."

"Good!" They heard Hermione say from the doorway. "You've been driving him barmy with the knocking bit." She laughed at Jaime's look of surprise.

After everyone was sitting at the table, Sirius spoke. "Tomorrow's Hermione's nineteenth birthday. I was thinking we could go home tonight and go to Hampton Court tomorrow. I've made arrangements for a private tour of the palace tomorrow at half twelve. I thought we could go out to breakfast then spend some time wandering, then do the tour. What do you-"He stopped speaking when Hermione shrieked and launched herself at Sirius, knocking him over in the process.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you! That is the best present ever!" she kissed him all over his face. At this everyone, who had been trying to hold in their laughter at the surprise attack, started to laugh.

"Mione. Let Padfoot breathe. I like my Godfather alive, yeah." Harry grinned as she transferred her hug to him.

"Best birthday ever." She breathed.

"So, we'll go home after classes today and spend your birthday at a 500-year-old building, yay." Sirius said mock-sarcastically, at which point both Hermione and Jaime glared at him.


	30. Chapter 30

**A/N Just wanted to say stay safe and Happy Easter to all who celebrate it. Happy Sunday to everyone else. Stay safe and take care of you and yours. Thanks for all the reviews, it amazes me so many of you are reading this.**

**A/N2: Karatekid-Ninja, I've been trying to PM you about helping on this project, if you still can, let me know please.**

**On to the story**

**Ch. 30**

**Friday 9 September 1998**

The next morning, the family decided to go home for the weekend since they had the Alliance dinner to worry about Saturday. Jaime decided to come with them.

When they apparated into the entrance hall, Jaime looked at the picture of Padfoot and Teddy sleeping and burst out laughing. "Where is that cute dog playing protector?" she asked. They looked over at the photo Dobby had taken months ago and pointed to Sirius. He promptly changed into Padfoot. "Oh my!" she giggled as she bent down to pet him.

"If you keep petting him, he'll stay that way. He loves it." Nev warned.

She got up and grinned as Sirius turned back. "That is why we have no cats in the house!" He exclaimed as they made their way to their rooms to change.

Jaime went to the bedroom right next to Sirius'. She noticed that Harry and Hermione shared a room as did Neville and Luna.

"I'll wait for you out here so you won't get lost." Sirius smiled as they went into their own rooms.

She went inside to discover a huge bedroom beautifully decorated with a king sized four poster bed with matching nightstands and shelves in the walk-in closet. The room was done in all shades of blue. There were French doors that went out to a balcony. When she went into the bathroom, she saw a shower that could hold three with four different shower heads and a tub nearly the size of the spa in her mom's backyard.

When she had changed into muggle clothes, she really didn't want to leave the room it was so nice. However, she did leave and ran straight into Sirius. "Oh! I'm sorry." She apologised as his arms came around her waist.

"No problem, love." He smiled down at her. Being this close to him and being able to smell his cologne mixed with grass and diesel, was nearly intoxicating for her. She just relaxed and curled into his arms.

"You're comfy." She took a deep breath as he chuckled low in his throat. She knew she shouldn't be succumbing to not only his smell but his beautiful body. The problem was that Sirius was her dream man: passionately loyal to his family, kind, caring, loves learning even if he refuses to admit it, sarcastic, great sense of fun and a great sense of humour and he happens to have that amazing British accent. To a California girl, raised by educators who believe in family, he was damn near perfect. But in her experience, there was always something wrong with the "perfect" guy; he's married or gay, he has an overbearing mother, or a crazed ex, something was wrong. She couldn't just let herself enjoy and explore this relationship because he was too perfect.

"Yeah. People have told me that before." He laughed as he let her go and took her hand. "Let's go see who's done." He took her up two flights of stairs to a perfect replica of Harry's drawing room.

"Hey." Hermione greeted them as she summoned a Coke for herself. She was sitting on the sofa curled into Harry. "Do you want a soda Jaime?"

"Of course." She smiled as one came to her. "I notice you have a lot of muggle appliances both here and at school. Is one of you muggleborn?"

"That's me." Hermione laughed. "When the war was over, Sirius wanted a house that was mainly muggle and I wanted to live near my parents, so we bought the house next door to my childhood home."

"Oh." Jaime thought for a moment as Nev, Luna, Dora and Teddy joined them. The boys and Dora began playing pool. "I had heard that the British Wizarding Population did not accept muggle electronics, or for that matter, change well."

"Oh, that reputation is well earned." Dora laughed.

"Well, then, why do I see all sorts of muggle things at Hogwarts?"

"Well, that's our fault." Luna laughed. "Hermione and I decided to create a rune and charm system that will let muggle appliances work in magical areas."

"Yeah. We converted some mobiles and computers and other devices to run on magic and started a company." Hermione added. "We need to check in with Fleur today, Luna."

"Yeah. I suppose."

"What our brilliant girlfriend and fiancée haven't told you," Nev laughed. "is that they are extremely smart and can invent anything you can dream up."

"What started off as a school project is changing our world in ways we can't see yet." Sirius contributed. "What are you two working on now?"

"We're trying to come up with our own Gameboy. We can rune and charm current Gameboys but we want a wizarding version and that's hard. Like I said, we need to talk to Fleur." Hermione got up. "Let's go Luna."

"We need to go check on the orphanage and the nursery." Harry added as he and Nev got up as well. "We'll be home around five. Then we can have dinner and a movie tonight."

**HP**

When Luna and Hermione got to the office building that MIT rented, they were surprised to learn that Fleur had rented out two floors. They found Fleur's office where they expected and knocked on the door. Fleur waved them in and got off her mobile as she came around the desk.

'Ello. Ow are my favorite inventors?" she grinned at them.

"Great." Hermione grinned back. It was really nice having girlfriends now, she thought. "We have an Alliance meeting tomorrow, so we came home today. I'm thinking we might do it as much as we can. The Madhouse has become home in the last few months and I missed it."

"Me too." Luna agreed. And they were off talking about the business.

HP

At the Orphanage, Harry really didn't have enough time to properly spend with Penny right now, so he snuck into Venus' office to have a chat. He eventually made it in and took off the invisibility cloak so they could talk.

"So, that's how you get around the castle and Auntie doesn't know!" Venus exclaimed laughing.

"Please don't rat me out?" He pled.

"Of course not. Auntie can't know everything now, can she?" She shook her head. "So, I assume you're here to talk business, yes?"

"Yes. I don't have time to stay but wanted to check in. How's it going? Have classes started yet?"

HP

Meanwhile, Sirius and Jaime were out on the grounds exploring. "So, what do you think of the place so far?" he asked.

"It's wonderful. It's just so surprising to me that you decided to buy a place that all of you could live so close together. It's great but I can't imagine living this close to my family." She smiled.

"Yeah. Most people think we're crazy but Harry and I haven't had the chance to be a family yet. Yeah, sure, I spent the first 15 months of his life absolutely doting on the kid but after that there was nothing. I didn't lay eyes on him again until he was thirteen." He said solemnly. "Then I only saw him occasionally through the war. When it was over, we decided it was time to be a real family and of course that meant his girlfriend Hermione too. So, when we saw this place, we couldn't resist. Three houses, each with their own individual plot on the property, and close to each other and the Grangers, it was perfect."

"You really love those two, don't you?" She enquired.

"Them and Nev and Luna, yeah." He grinned. "I think that when Luna and Nev marry, I'm going to build them a house here as well." Jaime just smiled and shook her head. "What?"

"I think it's cute. How you're looking after those boys."

"It's what James and Frankie would want me to do." He shrugged. They had finally gotten back to the terrace outside the kitchen.

"Does this stone terrace go all the way around the house?" She asked.

"Yeah. Do you like it?" He returned, sitting down on the bench swing as he patted it in invitation.

"I really love this place. It reminds me of the calendars I had as a young girl of English countryside. This is more beautiful than I could have imagined."

"Why are you here, Jaime? Why come to Britain? You could have gotten a job anywhere in the states with your degrees. Why here?" This question had been burning through him the past few weeks and he felt he needed to know.

"Well, I got this job, you see." She smiled at the irritated look on his face. "Look, I needed to get away. After the last few years, I needed a new start. I put my heart and soul into getting my degrees. While I was doing that, I got involved with someone that I shouldn't have." Sirius wrapped his arm around her and she leant into him "He needed more help than I could give. We broke up a few years ago but I found I was still brooding. So, I decided I wanted to restart my life somewhere I, mostly, knew the language and that would be interesting to live. I've always enjoyed English history, so I decided to look into Hogwarts."

"Is there anywhere that you would particularly like to see?" he asked.

"I would love to go to Hampton Court." She grinned.

"Let me talk to the family and maybe we can go there soon." She squealed and hugged him tightly.

"That would be awesome!" she grinned. He turned toward her and put his hands on her cheeks as he brought her face up to look at him. He bent down and kissed her. When she opened her mouth to him, he pulled her closer and delved deeper into her mouth.

She made a mewling sound as she ran her hands through his hair and gently pulled on it. He growled as his mouth went to explore her creamy neck and her hands went under his shirt to feel the muscles that she had dreamed of the past few nights.

She pulled herself onto his lap and straddled his waist. She pulled his mouth back to hers and enjoyed the sensation of his hands roaming her body as his lips made her move as close to him as possible. In the process she felt his hardness underneath her.

"Oh Siri. You're amazing." She groaned as she moved again, just to feel his hardness so close to her. Her hand moved from playing with his hair to unbuttoning his jeans. "I want you."

He pulled their lips apart. "I want you too." He groaned as he leant his forehead against hers. "But we can't do this here, now. I won't just shag you because we get too excited. I want it to be right for both of us."

"But we will soon?" She asked hesitantly. _Gods, I am a 32-year-old woman acting like a teen. What is wrong with me?_ _Begging for sex with a man that I met not three weeks ago. _She thought to herself as she got off him.

"Sooner than you can imagine, love." He laughed huskily.

**HP**

"Hey, is anyone home?" Yelled Harry as he apparated into the entrance hall.

"In the kitchen." Sirius pitched his voice as Harry came in.

"Is anyone else home?"

"No. Just Jaime and me. Dora took Teddy to see Brianna and the girls and Nev haven't gotten home yet. How'd it go with Venus?" Sirius responded.

"Great. We're going to go by tomorrow and see the kids. Apparently, each kid has asked for us. Penny's been making a nuisance of herself. Every picture she's drawn in preschool has her and me doing something together." He laughed.

"Okay. That's it. I will definitely be bringing her to the Quidditch games this year." Sirius laughed

"Who's Penny?" Jaime asked.

"An orphan who's taken a liking to Harry. She's this cute little red head who just loves him. It's so cute."

"Talking about Penny?" Hermione asked as she and Luna came in the kitchen.

"Of course."

"I told Venus we'd come for a visit tomorrow." Harry kissed his fiancée.

"Sounds lovely."

Soon everyone was home and they were enjoying a Friday Night Movie Night. They decided to watch Terminator 2, which Jaime owned and loved.

HP

**Saturday, 12 September, 1998 Crawley, UK**

The next morning, Harry woke up with Teddy like normal but Hermione woke up as well. As they were all walking down to the kitchen, Teddy was doing a lot of babbling to himself.

Harry put him in the swing as he started breakfast. A few minutes later, Jaime came in. "Can I help?" she asked.

"Make the bacon, please." Harry asked.

"Of course." She went to the cold box and got it out. Then as she found the skillet, she remarked "Everything is in the same place as your flat. Is that Dobby's doing?"

"Yes. Dobby is utterly amazing." Hermione grinned. "I love the little guy."

"I can see why." Jaime chuckled. "So I understand from Sirius that you two met on the Express your first year but didn't start dating until this last spring, what changed?"

"I saw him die." Hermione replied softly. "He came back but that was my wake-up call." They began to discuss the war and how everyone handled it. Eventually the other members of The Family joined in and contributed their own recollections. For a historian, getting all these primary sources talking was an amazing privilege.

As they all finished breakfast and went up to the game room, Jaime suggested. "You should all write this down. Tell the story from your perspective." As Harry began shaking his head and everyone else started laughing she said. "I know you don't like the publicity, Harry. In fact, I know you hate it. However, as a historian, what you and your friends did is amazing. I'm not just talking about a book centered on you Harry. I'm talking of starting when your parents went into hiding. Telling _everyone's_ story. Telling about Sirius' arrest and imprisonment, your placing with your relatives and not knowing you're a wizard to meeting Ron, Hermione, and Neville. To how you three defeated Voldemort at the end of year one to brewing Polyjuice in year two-which is an incredible accomplishment, to all of your stories. I'm thinking of talking about the DA last year and how you and Luna ran it, Neville. Basically, a book that tells your side so people and future historians know the truth."

"Who would want to write it?" Hermione asked.

"I would love to. But we could get a ghost writer if you don't like that idea."

The four young people looked at each other. "We could do it one time and never have to relive it again." Neville thought aloud.

"She knows us and is becoming part of the family. She wouldn't Skeeter it." Luna added.

Hermione and Harry looked at each other. Jaime could see they were talking without using words. After several minutes of this behaviour, Harry looked at Jaime. "If you're willing to do it. I want everyone's story. This is not about me but about us. I may have held the wand that killed him but a lot of people did more than their share to rid the world of that bastard." He looked at his fiancée. "If it wasn't for this beauty, he'd still be alive. If it wasn't for Nev killing Nagini, he'd still be alive. If it wasn't for Ron, he'd still be alive. Do you understand?" Harry looked directly at Jaime. "I'll trust you to tell it but I want the whole truth put out so I only have to answer these questions once and I can refer everyone to the book to get their information."

"You do realise that you'll have to sit down and be interviewed by me, right?" she asked, knowing how he felt about the press.

"Only you." He said firmly.

She smiled brilliantly at him. "Thank you, Harry." They both stood up and Harry took her hand to shake it when she brought him in for a bear hug.

"Jai-nee—breathe" He got out.

"Oh. Sorry." She grinned as she let up. "The historian in me is doing backflips, cartwheels and any kind of gymnastics it can think of right now. I'm going to need to go through archives of the Daily Prophet." She paused a minute to take a breath. "I wonder if there's enough information about the First Blood War to write a book as well."

They spent the rest of the day playing pool or in the pool telling stories about their experiences. By that evening, when everyone went to get ready for the Alliance Dinner, Hermione, Luna and Jaime had a basic outline for each book.

HP

That evening, they ate the meal first while the heirs caught up. Most of them had gotten permission from the Headmistress to go off grounds that night because she was there herself.

"Do we want to present our ideas on the upper and lower house system to the group here tonight?" Bill asked.

"Why wouldn't we?" Daphne Greengrass asked.

"I'm just worried we're asking for too much change too fast." Bill replied.

"I'm afraid if we don't do it now, they won't listen. Right now, they're actually listening. I think we should at least broach it." Ernie MacMillan offered.

"You're making sense Ernie." Robert McGonagall, Malcolm's son, confirmed.

"Okay." Nev stood. "Vote. Aye to talking about this tonight is lit. Nay is unlit."

"Aye's have it. We'll discuss it after old business is taken care of." Nev intoned.

Sirius then gave a report about what each committee that had given their report had said. Augusta then let the Heirs know what had passed.

Silas gave a report about which committees still need to present.

Melania raised her hand and Silas called on her. She stood. "Weren't these reports supposed to be finished before summer was over?" she asked to which many of the older members started wholeheartedly laughing.

When Silas understood that she was embarrassed he said. "Mel, it's nothing to be embarrassed of. You would think that you'd be right but there is a general rule of thumb when dealing with Wizengamot. Add at least two weeks to any deadline it sets. For instance, the tax committee we formed around your ideas is supposed to present at the beginning of October. I don't expect that presentation until the end of October, beginning of November."

"Oh." She smiled.

"Is there any new business you Heirs want to discuss?" Silas asked. To Nev, it seemed that the leaders of the Alliance were now Sirius, Gran and Silas. Interesting, how they dominated the talking points.

"Yes Sir. William Weasley for those who don't know."

"The red hair makes it obvious son." Elphias Doge remarked.

Bill grinned. "Quite right. Anyway, we wanted to talk about more fair representation in Wizengamot.

"Who are we not including now?" Charles Abbott asked tiredly.

"Daddy! That's enough!" Hannah nearly shrilled.

"I'm listening sweetie." He replied fondly.

"So, here's what we are thinking." Bill began to explain.

The talk went long into the night until the Heirs had felt listened to—although nothing was decided. This made a few of the Heirs mad and they agreed to talk at school the next few weeks.

**HP**

The next day was a very restful day for the family. The Grangers came for breakfast and Hermione and Luna spent time in the library trying to animate a few board games. They had gotten Monopoly ready and were going to take it back to Hogwarts to let people play with it. They were working on Scrabble now.

"What really takes so long is figuring out what part of the game can be magicked and how to do those specific parts." Hermione was explaining to Jaime as she researched.

"What about creating an all magic Gameboy system. You already have the runes and charms to keep a muggle one running around magic but could you magick one specifically with wizard appropriate games?" Jaime wondered.

"I think we can create the Gameboy using magic rather than electronics but the games themselves would be difficult." Hermione answered.

"I can work on creating one or two games if you want to figure out how the Gameboy will work. It'll give my imagination a workout." Luna smiled.

"That sounds good."

"You two work well together. Did you know that?" Jaime asked.

"Yep. We've learned that." Hermione smiled. "Honestly MIT started as an extension of a school project. It grew too big for us, now we have a business manager who takes care of that side of things. You'll meet her in a little while. You know Bill from last night?" she nodded. "His wife Fleur is our business manager."

That evening they had another family dinner with the Weasley's Longbottoms and Lovegoods. Then they went back to school.

**Wednesday 16 September 1998 Head's dorm**

That Wednesday, the Heads were done with classes and were getting ahead on homework when Dora, Flitwick, Jaime and the Headmistress came to visit. Since their door was open, the teachers knocked and came in.

"Hello, Professors. Have a seat. How can we help you?" Hermione fluttered about cleaning up the room that only had homework or books out.

"Sit down Ms. Granger please." McGonagall implored. Once Hermione, Harry and Luna were seated she said. "Because of the number of muggleborn and half-bloods who did not start last year or did not come back for whatever year they were in, we now have an excess number of students around. As I really didn't estimate correctly when hiring this year, we find ourselves in need of help." She sighed. "We have enough students to fill two extra first year and one extra second year class in Charms, Defence, and History. Now, I know from talking with Professor Richardson and Professor Black that you three are considering getting your Masteries in those areas. Part of the Mastery completion is teaching three years of classes while getting your Mastery. What I am suggesting is that you could take these classes off our current teachers' schedules and gain credit for your mastery before you graduate. Would you like to do that?"

"I would." Luna piped up.

"Thank you, Ms. Lovegood." Filius sighed.

Hermione and Harry were doing their nonverbal communication that everyone commented on. They both nodded. "We'd be more than happy to help Headmistress. However, Luna and I may need some guidance as to how to actually teach. We've never done it before, even if Harry has."

"That is no problem." She gave a relieved smile.

"Yeah, but I've only ever taught what the students needed to know. I have no idea about lesson planning. You did all that Mione."

"Ms. Lovegood, why don't you come to my office and we can talk about lesson planning?" Flitwick offered as Luna jumped up.

"Let's go into my study Harry." Dora led the way to her flat.

"I guess that leaves us here Hermione." Jaime grinned as she put her briefcase on the table.

"Great. Can you e-mail the lessons to me?"

"Sure." She got out her computer and they began to work.

"When is my first class?" Hermione asked.

"Monday."

18


	31. Chapter 31

A/N Sorry this is late. I just didn't get around to posting until now. I want to say thanks for all the reviews. You'll notice this chapter flows a little better than most. That's because my new beta reader Karatekid-Ninja is absolutely amazing at helping me smooth out some of the rough edges. She's awesome!

Ch. 31

Saturday 26 September 1998

That first week was extremely hectic for the entire family. Yes, they were able to get together for breakfast and dinner but they spent a lot of their time discussing classes, both teaching and studying and weddings.

Harry had been able to reserve the White Tower when they'd first gotten back to Hogwarts. And Hermione was really looking forward to finding a wedding dress this spring

That morning everyone met in the heads quarters to discuss the agenda for the first Hogsmeade trip of the year, "So, do you guys have to monitor students today?" Harry asked Jaime, Dora and Sirius.

"Yeah, just until lunch though. Then Jamie and I are going out to a nice lunch." Sirius grinned. This was going to be their first "date" and he was really looking forward to it.

"That sounds fun." Luna smiled. "Nev and I are going to have a picnic out by the shack."

"I'm taking Harry to find wedding invitations." Hermione grinned at the terrified look on Harry's face.

"Charge it to my account. Your parents' cards won't work here." Sirius offered.

"Okay." She smiled, knowing that saying no would be hurtful to the Godfather that just wanted to make up for all the years he'd missed.

They decided to walk into the village together and split up when they arrived. Sirius decided to show Jaime WWW's, he grinned at her as they walked in,"This is a joke shop run by some friends of Harry's. Actually, it's Ron's twin brothers, they are bloody geniuses as pranksters."

"Is this the Ron Weasley that's about to lose his badge?" Jaime asked.

"Ronnikins is going to lose his badge?" Fred grinned at them.

"Can't wait to tell Mum" George added.

"Please don't!" Jaime looked worried. "I'm sure he'll get his act together." She looked around as the twins snorted.

HP

After several hours of monitoring for miscreants, Sirius was ready to take his beautiful girlfriend on their first date. In one of the back streets of Hogsmeade, there is a stunning little restaurant that had been around for generations, but it wasn't a place frequented by students making it the perfect location for their first date. After changing shifts with Dora and Filius, Sirius guided Jamie to the restaurant, as they walked they looked through the windows of shops as they passed, when they arrived Sirius opened the door and let Jamie enter first. "Wow!" Jaime breathed. "This place is beautiful."

The restaurant was tastefully done in a nautical theme with the sound of a waterfall in the background. As they were led to a table, the décor went from a normal restaurant to a beautiful beachside resort, it looked like one of the resorts in Hawaii her parents liked to go to.

"Just like you, my love." Sirius whispered in Jaime's ear, she turned her head, about to snort in derision when she realised that he actually meant it.

She smiled softly as he held out her chair. She sat down and it was literally as though they'd been planted on the beach in Hawaii. "You know, all the times I've been to Hawaii, I've never done this." Jaime looked into Sirius' grey eyes.

"What?"

"Sat on the beach for dinner with someone I loved-that wasn't family."

"Well, I'm glad then. I was looking for something original." He grinned.

"Well, you did it, sweets." She smiled as they each sat back and began talking. "I know you talk about the Marauders as family but what about the Black's? What are they like?"

"Blood purists, all of them. One of my cousins was Voldemort's right-hand woman, another cousin's husband was his right-hand man, just so happened to be brother-in-law to the first one mentioned. My baby brother was also a Death Eater, he defected eventually. The only family I like is Dora's mother Andy, she is the sister of the other two cousins but she left the family to marry Ted, a muggleborn. I couldn't deal with the abuse anymore so at 16 I ran away, James and his parents took me in as a stray and raised me, I mean they had been doing it since year three anyway, it was just more official this way." He shuddered. "Crazy runs in my family."

She laughed. "Mark says the same thing about us. After all, I must be crazy to want to move halfway around the world."

They ate and talked for a good two hours until they decided to head back to the castle. When they got there, they walked past both of their quarters to grab their work and headed to the Heads' suite. When they arrived, Harry and Hermione were grading papers at the kitchen table with the Beatles playing in the background.

"Mind if we join you?" Jaime asked.

"Of course they don't." Sirius dropped his stuff on the table as he ruffled Harry's hair.

"Hey! Stop that!" He batted Sirius' hand away as he kept reading papers. Luckily, it was typed paper, not parchment. He sighed as he put a T on the paper. Then he handed it to Jaime. "What do you think this deserves?" He looked worried.

"Afraid you're being too hard?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah. It's a third-year paper about dementors." Jaime took it from him and quickly scanned it.

"Nope. This is T work." She smiled at him. "Don't worry Harry, you're doing great. I hear the kids talk and they like you. You're a natural."

"Told you so." Hermione grinned at her best friend. "So, what grade would you give Sirius on the date, Jaime?"

"Oh. Definitely an O. It was perfect Mione. He took me to a place that turned into a Hawaiian beach and we ate at a table in the sand. We talked. It was amazing." She gushed. She looked over at Sirius and smiled. Thank you, she mouthed to him. "What did you do?"

"Nothing much. I have a feeling we're going to have to force people to take payment when it comes to the wedding." She chuckled.

"I think you're right." Sirius grinned. "They all want to say thank you."

"Speaking of that, could we do our first interview tomorrow? Maybe sit down with all of you here to record it." Jaime asked. "I talked to a publisher friend in New York and he says he has British publishing friends he'd get in contact with." She continued talking "I thought we'd start by talking about when your parents went into hiding, then move on."

"Yeah, sounds fine. Might want to get Gran in on it so she can give Alice's viewpoint as well since she and mum were so close" Harry took out his mobile and called Gran. "Hey Gran. . . No, everyone's fine. . . Yes, I'm sure. Have you heard of the book project Sirius' girlfriend is putting together?. . . Yes, they are, I know the reputation he had in school, Remus told me, it's amazing he knows how to treat a girlfriend." Harry laughed at the stunned look on Sirius' face. "Anyway, she wants to interview us tomorrow to talk about my parents and Alice. Can you come please?" He paused. "Great. Around one? Have Mitzy bring you." He paused again. "Yes. Goodnight Gran." He shut the mobile and smiled looking at Jaime. "I can't wait till you meet Gran. Ask her about where I ended up living. It's fun watching her go nuclear." Sirius, Nev and Harry all laughed.

HP

As Sirius and Jaime were walking back to her room, Sirius for the first time in his life actually wanted to hold Jaime's hand. He took it in his and kissed it gently. She looked at him uncertainly. This was new territory for her, well at least since The Incident that she would have to tell Sirius about sooner or later.

"Are you sure you'd be okay with that? The students will learn about us. Eventually. This will become gossip. It's the way Hogwarts is, the way it's always been." His grey eyes were solemn as he spoke.

"That's fine with me." Then she looked at him just as seriously. "If I wasn't nearly positive that I knew where this was heading, I may be scared but I know you Sirius Black and I enjoy the person you are. The brilliant man that puts his godson before everything else. The man that just wants Hermione happy so lets her build her own library. The man that buys a place for his whole family to live close by that is also close to Hermione's parents. You are an amazing man and I love you. I want to be a part of your life and part of that is living with you. Merlin, I sound like a sap!" She chuckled a little embarrassed.

He took her face in his hands, looking into her deep blue eyes, and smiled. "You're not a sap love. You're my witch and I care about you too. I would love to move in tomorrow." He answered quietly as he stood and pulled her up and took her to the bedroom to make love to his witch.

Sunday 27 September 1998

The next morning, Luna came out of her bedroom very excited. "Look Mione!" she waved her hand at Hermione.

"Y-Y-You're engaged?" Hermione sputtered as she stopped Luna's hand long enough to look at the beautiful blue sapphire engagement ring. "When did that happen?"

"Last night as we were getting ready for bed." Luna replied dreamily. The family gathered around congratulating the couple, the girls all gathered around to admire the ring, while the boys stood back giving Nev a good natured ribbing.

"Good going, mate." Harry reached around and slapped Nev on the back.

"You'll be my maid of honor right Mione?" Luna asked her friend.

"Only if you'll be mine." She grinned back as they both hugged. "You know we could do a double wedding."

"Maybe." Hermione thought aloud, then in a whisper in Luna's ear she said, "Maybe a triple if Sirius gets his act together." They both giggled at the thought. That evening everyone went to bed absolutely exhausted but excited about getting to see Gran the next day.

HP

Everyone ended up back in the game room for lunch. As lunch came to a close, Gran arrived. Harry and Neville bounced up and gave Gran a hug and kiss. "Hey Gran. We missed you."

She smiled and looked at both her boys "I've missed you too." She gave Nev a kiss. For some reason, this new Gran still surprised him a bit.

"Guess what happened?" Harry prodded Augusta.

"What?"

"Nev got engaged!" Harry bounced in his seat with excitement.

"Yes I know. The ring is mine." She smiled. "It's been passed down for many generations-"

"Wait a minute! That was Alice's ring! She waved it around at school forever!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Yes. When Frank wanted to become affianced with Alice, he asked for the family ring, which is when Gerald gave me this ring." She showed the anniversary ring.

"What's mum wearing now?" Nev asked.

"An anniversary ring that was in our vault." She looked at Nev. "I would have never left Alice without a ring my dear." She patted his hand as they walked back to the Heads Quarters in order to have the interview with Jamie. When they arrived at the rooms, it was decided that the interview would be in the family room, as it was less formal and intimidating for everyone involved. Jamie set up a small table in front of her and set up her laptop, before they properly began.

They started by talking about Lily and James getting together, as well as how Alice and Frankie got together, the prophecy, how both couples went into hiding. As they told Jamie what happened they went into Peter's scheming to have them not trust Remus, Harry and Nev's birth and how their mums were put together in Mungo's to recuperate. Sirius told stories of both boys' births, with lots of flamboyant gestures and much laughter from the kids. It was at this point they decided to take a quick break as it was getting close to dinner.

"You guys, sure have lived such interesting lives, even with only knowing a little of the story. I understand interesting isn't always a good thing" Jamie said as she finished typing the last part of the interview. Everyone decided they would break for dinner and pick up again after dinner wanting to finish this part of the tale quickly.

When they returned it was decided Sirius would be the best person to tell what happened next, he spoke of the night the Potter's died and how he went to Azkaban. Augusta filled in how Alice and Frank reacted and how they were pressuring Albus to hand Harry over, how not long after Albus left Alice and Frank were tortured.

It was a very honest and open discussion about that period of their lives. Jaime just recorded and asked questions. For the most part she just let them talk. It took until just before curfew to finish the end of the first war, when they all retired for the night everyone was completely emotionally drained, it was another night they all dropped into bed.

Saturday 3 October 1997

`The following Saturday, The Family congregated in the Heads' suite. Instead of doing their morning meal, they tromped down to the Great Hall where they were meeting all of the second years in the school, Minerva, Andromeda, and Pomona who were all going to Salisbury for the day.

It amazed Jaime how much more time they would be able to spend there because they could apparate.

"Before we eat, there are a few things Professor Granger and I would like to say." Jaime cleared her throat. "We are going to take the carriages to Three Broomsticks, floo to the Leaky, from there we will then apparate with you to Stonehenge itself. When we get there, we will meet Professor Granger's parents. They are muggles and have agreed to be chaperones for this trip. I have everyone's tickets and will hand them out there. At this point you will stay with your assigned partners and adult. We will meet a guide who does this for a living. Everything you've been learning about the British Neolithic Era from Professor Granger will in some way apply to this." She paused. "I understand you've been talking about weaponry of the time, right?" They all nodded. "We may be able to experience using some of these." She looked at Minerva. "Would you like to say anything?"

"Thank you, Professor Richardson." Minerva began. "Children, this is a once in a lifetime experience. While I know you'll be excited, it is very important not to let on that we are witches and wizards. If you do, we will need to leave. Remember, our world is a secret from muggles and we need to keep it that way." She smiled. "I would also like to thank Professors, Black, Potter and Longbottom for paying for this expedition and Professors Richardson and Granger for arranging it."

"Now let's eat quickly." Jaime smiled. Everyone ate at one house table today.

While they were eating, Sirius could tell Jaime was nervous. "You okay love?"

"Yeah. I used to do class trips with Mark's students but they were never this big. There are 250 students on this trip. We've divided them amongst us so we're only responsible for 20 each but that's still a lot." She worried her lip.

"We'll be fine Jaime. You'll see."

Over at the other end of the table, Hermione was worried as well. "I hope I prepared them well enough for this trip. I believe this is the first school-sponsored trip—ever. If it doesn't go well, there may not be anymore."

Harry put his hand on hers and made her look at him. "Mione, you've done everything you can to make this a successful trip. As long as no one mentions wizards and we don't lose anyone, this will be a success. Don't worry so much. It'll be fine." He was using the voice that always seemed to calm her down, and it worked again because she took a deep breath and gave him a kiss.

"Thanks love." She smiled as she put her head on his shoulder.

When they got out to the carriages, the adults spread out into the carriages to maintain some control. It took a bit of time to get everyone to the Leaky. McGonagall took roll then, to make sure everyone made it. Then they began apparating students.

Hermione went first with three students to meet her parents. When she apparated in, she saw her mum and Dad with a glamoured Dobby and Mitzy. "Hey guys." She gave her parents hugs just as more apparated in.

"Are you okay pumpkin?" Dan asked as he looked at how worried his daughter was.

"Pumpkin?" A little boy named Andrew squeaked as he looked from his teacher to her dad.

Hermione rolled her eyes as she looked at the boy. "Could we keep that between us Andrew? Dad has a way of embarrassing me without even trying." She glared at her dad.

Andrew grinned. "Sure. My older sister says the same thing. Your secret's safe with me." The four of them laughed.

"Yes, Dad. I'm fine, just want this to go well." She smiled as she went to find the guide. When she got back with their guide, Minerva was taking roll again and found they had everyone. "Your attention please." Hermione said above the students. They just kept talking. She looked at Harry, he shrugged and whistled loudly. Everyone stopped talking. "So, this is our guide Frank. He's going to show us around. Maybe we'll see some weapons and that sort of thing." She turned to Frank. "Thank you, Frank for doing this." She smiled at him.

"No problem. Like your teacher said, my name is Frank and I've been giving these tours for the past 10 years." He began as he walked through the sight.

The adults corralled the students by herding them from all sides toward Frank as he gave a talk on what they believed Stonehenge was used for. Emma and Dan had brought both muggle and wizarding cameras and were taking pictures not only of the henge but the students' reaction to it.

Hermione and Jaime heard some of the reactions like 'wow! That's huge!' or 'how'd they move the stones without ma-?'. Some of these Frank heard and answered, some Jaime or Hermione did.

By the end of the two hours the guide had set out, the kids were eagerly asking their questions. Some of the students who had brought cameras were clicking away so much, adults had to make sure they stayed with the group.

When Frank was done, the teachers let the students wander around by themselves for a while. They decided to meet up where they had met the Grangers at one o'clock.

The teachers decided to rest on the grass as they waited. "Well, I think today went well." Sirius commented.

"They were very well behaved." Minerva replied.

"I think they actually learned too." Hermione remarked. "I saw Simon actually thinking instead of goofing off."

"He seemed to be focusing and his camera was constantly working." Jaime added.

"Would you want to do this again?" Andromeda asked.

"Can I use you all as chaperone's? I'm thinking the Tower next, then Canterbury, then Westminster Abbey, then,-"

"Big Ben, Stratford, Hampton Court, Windsor castle" Hermione added

"Hastings too" Jaime continued until all the adults were chuckling except Harry and Sirius who were just shaking their heads.

Sirius looked at Harry. "We're screwed." He shook his head at Harry's nod.

Jaime and Hermione looked at them. "What's that supposed to mean?" Jaime demanded.

"Just that we're going to be doing a lot of this." Sirius groaned. "If we are, we're not flooing and apparating. We'll need port-keys. I'm exhausted. I'm too old for this."

At that Minerva let out a near belly laugh. "You, Sirius Black, are too old? A Marauder admitting their age. I never thought I'd see the day!"

"Stop teasing me!" he whined as he sunk to his back as a shadow passed over him.

"Professor Black?" Audry, a little potions star, asked as he pulled himself up.

"Yes love. What can I help you with?"

"You're not too old for this. We have had a great time and really appreciate what you're doing." She motioned to a few of her friends behind her. "We just wanted to say thank you."

"Your welcome love." He smiled at her as she left.

"Someone's got an admirer." Dan grinned at his friend who went bright red. "Wow. A blush?" Dan teased.

"Shut it." he mumbled as he looked at his watch. "It's nearing one, we should meet the kids." He and Jaime walked to the appointed place holding hands.

"Did you like this?" Harry asked Hermione.

"Yup! This went better than expected. It's so nice seeing them learning." She grinned.

When they got back to the castle, they ate a late lunch in the Great Hall like they had breakfast, as a group. Then everyone scattered. Harry headed to his rooms where he found Dobby bouncing Teddy in the air with magic. Teddy, of course, was laughing hysterically.

"There's my boy." Harry grinned as he came in. Teddy looked around and threw out his arms to his Godfather as Dobby let him down. Harry took him in his arms and cuddled him. "I missed you today." He murmured as he sat on the sofa. As soon as they got settled together, Dora came into the room and took her son out of his arms "Hey!" Harry whined.

"I haven't seen my little guy all day." She scowled at Harry. Eventually, The Family was all sitting in the room in various states of sleep. Hermione's head was on Harry's lap. Nev and Luna were on the floor with her on his chest. Jaime was laying in Sirius' arms. Dora and Teddy were passed out in a chair.

McGonagall came by a few minutes later and just chuckled softly as she left them in peace.

HP

That evening, after everyone had left the flat, Hermione decided to take a bath. She left her friends a little earlier than usual and was laying in the bath, covered in bubbles when her lover happened to walk in completely naked. As her heart rate jumped, she moved to let him in.

He laughed "You look so hopeful. You think I'm here for more than a bath?"

"Hope so." She muttered as she pulled him down to her and kissed him. They put an extra warming charm on their bath as they spent time enjoying each other that evening.

Friday 9 October 1998

Friday began like every Friday before it, breakfast with The Family. Jaime walked in that morning to see Teddy in his walker as he moved himself around the kitchen. Of course, every time he hit Harry's leg, he squealed in delight.

As Jaime started making the orange juice, Teddy ran into her. She sighed as she looked down at him. "It's a good thing you're so damn cute, otherwise I woulda killed you by now little man."

"I may kill him anyway." Dora whined as she came in and flopped down at the table and put her head down. "I need some sleep. Like real sleep, not this waking up cause I'm worried about my monster."

"Want us to take him tonight?" Hermione asked.

She brought her head up a bit to look at Mione. "Would you? Like into your bedroom so I don't hear him moving around?" she asked hopefully.

"Of course." Hermione smiled at Dora.

At the breakfast table later, Sirius made a suggestion. "Why don't we go home tonight since we have the Alliance meeting tomorrow?"

"Sounds great. We'll go right after classes today." Harry agreed.

HP

That afternoon, after classes were over, Harry and Hermione floo'd home with all of their homework plus grading and lesson plans. They immediately took their grading and lesson plans up to their room. Then they took their homework and went up to the library.

"Best get it all out of the way now." Hermione noted. "That way we can think about other things this weekend."

"Yeah. I always hated doing things at the last minute but I don't have Ron pushing me to goof off anymore. I like this." He grinned at his fiancée as he got up to get a Herbology text. "Should have asked Nev to help me with this."

"And I love the fact that you're more organised now." She smiled at him.

"You just like the fact that I'm turning out more like you." He smiled and bent to kiss her as he sat down to work. A little while later, they heard Sirius' distinctive clomping on the stairs.

Then they heard, "Where the devil did those two go? They aren't at school; I checked the Map. They've got to be here." He complained.

"We're in the library!" Harry yelled with a grin at Mione.

"What are you doing up here?" Sirius asked as he came in.

"Homework." Hermione grumped. "Go away Padfoot."

"We're almost done. I'll be down in 10, I think." Harry offered.

"I love this library." Jaime sighed as she wandered through the stacks.

In a few minutes, Harry put the Herbology text away and closed his computer. "Done. At least with homework for this week."

Mione looked up. "Good job. I'll be done in a few." She informed him as Nev strode to the stacks.

"Hey Nev." Harry patted him on the back as he left.

"Harry. I'm going to check in with Dirk after I check something. You going to the orphanage today?"

"No. I think I'll surprise Penny tomorrow. Maybe take her to a bookstore or something."

Hermione laughed. "You take her there and you're bound to lose her."

Harry smiled as Mione put books back. "Maybe. But she'll love it."

Harry went up to the game room and saw it was already five. Sirius and Jaime were talking and playing darts. "Hey guys." He laughed as they turned around abruptly.

"Are we doing movie night tonight?" Sirius asked.

"I think so. I was thinking, Patriot Games, is that good?" He responded

"Sure."

"That's one of my favorite movies." Jaime grinned.

"Great." Sirius replied as he called Dobby. When Dobby popped in, he asked. "Do we have everything we need to make pizza?"

"Yes sir. I need to cut up some pineapple for Ms. Hermione." He popped out.

Saturday 10 October 1998

That night was a typical Friday Movie Night for the family. It was the next day that everyone split up to take care of things. Breakfast that morning was a hive of ideas.

"Luna and I have to go talk to Fleur. We didn't get that done yesterday." Hermione offered.

"I'm going to go to LAR to see Penny." Harry said.

"I told Dirk I'd come back today to help with planting some new stuff he just got."

"I'm taking Teddy to see Brianna." Dora remarked.

"Should we meet back here for lunch at one?" Sirius asked. Everyone agreed as they set off.

HP

Harry apparated onto the LAR grounds and went inside, where he found Venus in the Entrance Hall talking to a house elf. He waited at a distance so he wasn't eavesdropping. When she was done, Venus motioned him forward. "Harry. How is school going?" She asked as she turned toward her office.

"Fine. We're teaching now so we're not just students any longer but we're surviving. How's this place doing?"

"Great. I've got some regular donor contributions now. The school is up and running really well. Everything is looking pretty good so far." She smiled at the young man she'd grown to like very much these last few months. "Are you here to see anyone in particular?"

At that Harry went a little red. "I thought I'd take Penny to the bookstore."

She just grinned, got up and they headed to the library. "Thought so." When they got there, Harry saw her in one of the window seats.

"Hey there Penny." He smiled as she looked up from her book and grinned. She scrambled off her perch and ran to him for a hug. He picked her up and she kissed him on the cheek.

"I missed you Harry."

"I missed you too little one." He twirled them around. When he came to a stop, he asked, "Do you wanna go to the bookstore with me?"

She nodded vigorously. "Yes please!" she kissed his other cheek.

"Two kisses. Wow!" He smiled at the girl as Venus laughed.

"When will you bring her home?" Venus asked as Harry signed her out

"Bout 2. We're going to go home for lunch at one." He grinned at her squeal.

"Okay. Just remember to check her back in, yeah?"

"Of course." He waved at Venus as they left.

HP

Hermione and Luna arrived home from talking to Fleur at Shell Cottage at about eleven. They went upstairs to the game room to find Sirius shirtless and his hand up Jaime's front.

"So, Luna." Hermione said in a loud voice as she turned towards her friend, who was behind her on the stairs, to allow the couple some privacy. "I'm glad we got to talk to Fleur today. Goodness knows if we'll actually get to see her tomorrow. Do you know if Pads sent out invites to the Weasleys?"

"I did." Sirius answered as they looked at the pair who were now both red but properly attired.

"So, I know you two started a business but it sounds like it was almost by accident." Jaime asked as they sat down with sodas in hand.

They laughed. "Yeah." Hermione said. "It was actually a school project I had started before the war. Then this summer, Luna and I finished it and started putting the runes on different items and selling them."

Jaime grinned. "That sounds like the two of you."

"Yeah. Well, it's gotten so big that Fleur's running it now and we just check in every once in a while." Luna smiled.

"That's how the best businesses are run. You're the idea people, you get others, who know more, to run it."

"I suppose." Luna replied. "It just feels weird being responsible for it all."

"Any one home?" They heard Harry from downstairs.

"Up here love." Hermione replied as she scooted over for Harry to sit. He came up a moment later holding Penny.

"Hey everyone. Remember Penny?" He asked as they plopped down next to Hermione.

"Sure." Pads smiled at her knowingly. "What'd Harry get you?"

She grinned. "Books."

"How many?" He grinned back.

"Let's just say lots and leave it there." He went red as they all started downstairs.

"Hermione?" Penny asked quietly

"Yes love?" She looked down at the girl.

"I don't know if I have enough room for all these books. I kept putting books in the bag and he just let me. He didn't stop or say it was too much. I kept expecting him to get mad that I wanted so many but he didn't. Is that normal?" she asked in a rush.

"Yup. He could never say no to you." She laughed as they sat down

"Won't he be mad?" she looked really worried.

"Let me tell you a secret. Harry rarely gets really mad. He wasn't even mad when he killed Voldemort. He doesn't get mad easily and if he is mad, I'm usually the only one who can tell."

"Oh." She continued to eat with a thoughtful look on her face.

"What are my two favorite girls talking about?" he grinned as he came up behind them.

"You, of course, love." Hermione smiled at him.


	32. Chapter 32

A/N All my thanks to my amazingly gifted beta Karatekid-Ninja who just has a way of knowing what I'm thinking and giving me language I need to make it work. I can't express how grateful I am to her.

A/N2 Thanks to all of you sticking with me through this and thanks for all the encouragement

Ch 32

Saturday 10 October 1998

After everyone had finished lunch, Harry took Penny back to LAR promising he'd see her again next month. When he got home, he went up to the game room. "Hey everyone." He said as he flopped down on the sofa.

"You look cheerful" Sirius commented.

"Penny does that. I'm always more cheerful after I spend time with her." He said as he pulled Hermione close and gave her a kiss on the temple.

"Teddy does that too I've noticed." Emma grinned. "Are we going to have grandbabies soon?"

"Not that I'd mind, but I think Hermione wants to get out of school first." He laughed at the dumbfounded look on Emma's face.

"Yeah, Mum no getting your hopes up. I need my NEWTs first." Hermione admonished her mother with a smile as Emma got a big grin on her face.

"So, are you kids ready for the fight that I'm sure will occur tonight?" Sirius grinned.

"What about?" Luna asked.

"Representation. What else? The old fogies in our alliance are convinced you guys have gone barmy and are going to bring the Wizarding World down around their ears." He laughed, thinking of the more progressive oldsters he'd talked to trying to gain support for the idea.

"We are." Luna shrugged. At Sirius' astonished face, she continued. "You guys didn't clean up the mess from the first war, which led to the second. If we don't bloody well fix the problem now, we'll have a third on our hands and this generation would rather leave Britain than go through that again." She ended emphatically.

"Wow. You need to say that exactly tonight Luna." Sirius was stunned at her conviction.

"Would you actually leave?" Dan asked.

"Dad, we've already talked about it" Hermione answered at the fallen looks on her parents' face, she said, "We don't want to. It's actually the last option on the list but if we have to, we will."

"Oh" Dan said softly.

"By the way, I changed the time from seven to six tonight. Us oldsters need to go to bed earlier." Sirius said as he tried to look old, he held the face for half a second before the family burst into laughter.

"I think I'm going to hop in the pool before they get here, anyone want to join? or are you too old Sirius" Harry said with a laugh as he jogged out the door laughing.

"Sounds like a good idea." Hermione got up as well and followed Harry to their room with a laugh.

"Pup, I'm wounded you would sling such slanderous statements about!" Sirius shouted after them "Why don't we join them and show them how us old folks really play?" Sirius asked Jaime as he held out his hand.

HP

A little while later, Hermione and Harry were cuddling on the seat in the deep end. Just enjoying being together after a long week. Hermione was wrapped in Harry's arms and they were snogging as Harry heard a door open. He turned to the door and saw Sirius and Jaime coming in.

"Great. I just want a little time alone with you and they have to barge in." Harry groaned as Hermione laughed.

She slipped off the bench. "You're the one who antagonised him, come on love, let's go see what they're up to." Hermione laughed at the disgruntled look on his face. Eventually, the rest of the family joined them in the pool and they kicked off a game of water volleyball, it started off as Harry and Hermione vs Sirius and Jamie, before devolving into boys vs girls once Luna and Nev joined in, if you asked the boys they allowed the Women to win, the girls, of course, would disagree.

Sooner than anyone thought, Dobby was telling them it was five o'clock and that they should get ready for dinner. Everyone got out of the pool and headed for a shower, once Harry was ready, he went up to get Teddy dressed and ready as well.

Being the first one ready he headed downstairs with Teddy arriving just as a mop of red hair arrived through the floo. "Hey Bill" Harry greeted the older man.

"Hey Harry, ready for tonight?" he laughed at the look of distaste on Harry's face.

"Did I tell you I hate politics?" Harry commented drolly.

"Yeah, you might've mentioned it once or twice." He laughed.

Harry started to lead Bill to the meeting space when the rest of the family arrived downstairs, it was decided Harry and Nev would stay to greet the guests. Soon, everyone was there, the heirs were at one table with the elders at another. "You know, this is fun. We should do this aside from the monthly meetings." Hannah laughed at something Luna said

"Maybe when we're not teaching, studying or practising sure." Harry replied.

"How's the teaching going?" she asked.

"Great, I just wish I wasn't doing so much other stuff as well, I think we are all just feeling a little overloaded really" He took Teddy from Dora. "At least I get to play with this guy." He tickled his little man to punctuate the statement.

"Are you sure we can't clone him?" she asked Hermione.

"Sorry girls but Harry's all mine." She laughed as she came back to her seat. "I know. I got lucky, huh?"

"Yep." A few girls responded.

"Okay, okay." Sirius said loudly. "It's time to get started or Harry is going to die of embarrassment over there," He laughed as his boy got even redder. "Anyway, things have gone pretty smoothly this month. They're going to be ready to report about the tax system next week. I doubt we'll get a vote before our next dinner because they'll want to talk it to bloody death beforehand."

"There is one thing that was brought up to me while at Gringotts last time. My account manager was saying that he heard we were making reforms. Why weren't we including them? It's something I think we should give consideration to." Silas said.

"Finally." Everyone heard Hermione mutter, causing anyone who knew her to laugh.

"Let's get other things through first Mione." Nev responded.

"Is there anything you heirs would like to talk about?" Augusta looked at her three: Neville, Harry and Hermione.

"Yes. We would like to continue the talk we were having about the representation in Wizengamot." Harry stood. Nearly all the older folks groaned. Harry could see that King, Sirius and Gran were on their side but the others didn't seem to be.

"I can't believe you want to make the Wizengamot more convoluted." Macmillan groaned.

"It's not that we want it more convoluted. We want every wizard to have a stake in our government so the minister can't just be replaced." Nev rejoined.

"Nothing like that will ever happen again." Ernest Sr. responded pompously. Ernie learned it well, Harry thought.

"Bet that's what you said when my parents died and my godfather went to jail on false charges." Harry was pissed. "You didn't do shite about it then, you let him gain power again and a 17-year-old had to save your arses once again. What would you fools have done without us?" He paused as he put his hand to his lips. "Oh yeah. That's right-die! First a pair of 21-year-old kids, then a trio of 17-year-old kids. Fucking grow up!" He plopped back down on his seat as Teddy was handed to him. Everyone else was silent.

"I would've used more polite words but the essence of what my Godson is saying is right. We collectively fucked up. Now is the time to fix it." Sirius began. He summoned diagrams he'd obviously put together for this presentation and gave an impassioned, charismatic speech that had everyone on the edge of their seats. He continued his presentation for a good hour talking with so much fire and passion in his voice. It was weird for the four youngsters to see the always laughing, never serious Sirius, so well excusing the pun but being so serious.

At one point, Nev whispered to Harry "He'd make a brilliant used broom salesman." They both laughed. "I think we need to call for a vote while the hob is hot."

Harry nodded and stood. "I'd like a vote to see where we are." Harry suggested. "Lit is yay unlit is nay."

Nev took the count. "Yay passes." He said loudly. Then in a lower voice, he said to Harry. "We got all the heirs on that count. We're gonna change the bloody world!" The two young men smiled in triumph.

After that vote, the meeting ended very quickly. "I don't think they want us bringing up something else." Melanie Doge quipped and everyone laughed. "By the way, I'm glad your godfather's on our side Harry. He can talk anyone into anything. Brilliant." She shook her head as she left.

HP

After everyone left, the family went up to the game room. Dora was feeding Teddy and Harry was looking at her grumpily, she laughed "Sorry Harry, he needs some bonding with me too, ya know."

Harry just huffed good-naturedly as he racked the balls. "I knew you were an amazing wizard Sirius, but you were a truly brilliant speaker tonight." Jaime shook her head as he let out his barklike laugh.

"Ask Minnie how I learned to talk my way out of things!" he smiled playfully.

"I was wondering where you think we should go for our next history trip, Hermione?" Jaime asked, settling down to talk to her friend.

"Well, I was thinking about the Tower next?" she replied hesitantly.

"Why?"

"Because it is not only significant in muggle history but wizarding history too. But I won't reach that part of the curriculum until about December, so I was thinking, maybe the first Saturday in December we could go. That way if they want to see it again after they've learnt about it, they can do it over the break."

"Okay, I think that's a very sensible plan. You'll want to do a lesson about the witches that have been queens." She informed Hermione.

"Yeah. Like Catherine of York?" she smiled when Jaime's eyes lit up.

"Yeah and Eleanor of Aquitaine."

"And Elizabeth I."

"Okay," Sirius said. "It's too late to be talking about history. I'm going to bed." He got up and Jaime, giving a fake pout, followed after him before laughing.

After they were gone, Nev commented "Those two are good for each other, they remind me of you two, sort of. They balance each other's extremes out."

"That they do," Harry responded with a smile as he cuddled Hermione closer to him. "And she makes him happy. That's the important thing." He kissed his fiancée gently.

Sunday 11 October 1998

Since the family was at home this weekend they decided to invite everyone over for an early dinner before they had to head back to Hogwarts for the week. It was beginning to get a little chilly in the evenings, so they were eating in the kitchen at an enlarged table, instead of outdoors like they normally would. The boys were still playing Quidditch but, as Hermione told Neville, that was more because of the Weasley's influence. Meanwhile, the elder generation had the impetus to stay indoors and talk politics or children.

"I'm really worried about Ron," Molly said at one point to the other ladies in the group. "I'm getting letters from Ginny saying that all Ron does is sit around and play chess. I've also gotten calls from Minerva about his behaviour in class. Apparently, he has become a bully and she is about to take away his Captaincy and his Prefect's badge."

"I know you had him working at WWW this summer because Dan saw him several times when he and Sirius went in." Emma began. "I was hoping that would help him straighten out. Dan said he was very good at being a salesperson."

"It's just that all my boys have wanted something of their own. I mean Bill went into curse breaking, it's a hard job but he loves it, he's even learning more about how Gringotts works, now that he's back in London." Molly sighed as she thought about her kids' lives. "Charlie has dedicated his life to those dragons of his, Percy has found himself at the Ministry and the twins… well, they own a successful shop. While I may not approve of the toys they make, they are successful. Ron doesn't seem to want anything."

"That's not true. He wants everything, he just doesn't want to work for it." Arthur cut in. "That's his problem." Not long after this, the boys came inside and dinner was served.

After everyone had eaten, they called it an early night with everyone going home, or in the family's case, going to their second home.

Thursday 15 October 1998

On Thursday, two first-year Gryffs found their way to the head students' rooms looking for some help, they knocked at the open door, Harry waved them in as he finished grading the last of his papers. Putting his quill down he turned and looked at the kids smiling, he asked, "Can I help you with something?"

"Yes sir. We were wondering if you could help us with some charms homework we have. We got the spells right away but we don't understand the theory well enough to write it down." Jane asked.

"Of course," He cleared off his work and set up space for them "let's see what you're working on. Oh. Alohomora." He smiled as he thought of the first time he'd seen it used, by Mione, of course. He sat down and helped Jane and her friend Summer with their paper.

About an hour in, Mione came in and looked at the papers. She looked around for a pen, she began to make a small note "The only thing you forgot was this." She said as she finished writing. Both girls looked at Harry uncomfortably.

"Don't mind Mione. She checks over everyone's work. If it wasn't for her I wouldn't have made it through all these years. She's the most brilliant witch you'll ever find."

She ruffled his hair as she put the pen down. "He's just saying that because he wants to keep his editor. Moi." She laughed at the girls' expressions of awe. "If you add a sentence here." She pointed to the paper, "it should be done."

Summer just shook her head as Jane collected their stuff. "I never thought I'd ever see someone correct The Harry Potter. Not with the way my dad talks about you." She said quietly, not wanting to get in trouble.

"Look at it this way, he's just a normal 18-year-old. He makes mistakes, just like anyone, in fact probably more than most" Mione replied with a wink. "If your dad knew Harry, he wouldn't be that impressed."

"Hey! That's not fair." Harry said with a laugh, "I'm not that bad… anymore…" he adjusted when Mione sent him the infamous look.

She looked at the girls. "He's just an annoying man. Now you should go." She scooted the kids out of their flat as Sirius came bounding in as Padfoot.

"Hello, Professor Black." Both girls giggled and he barked as they left. The school had gotten used to seeing Padfoot around at all different times and just took it as another normal part of life at Hogwarts.

"Hello kiddos." Sirius transformed.

HP

A little while later, as Harry and Hermione were laying on the couch together, Jane and Summer came back to the door. They knocked. "C'mon in girls." Harry rubbed his eyes as he and Hermione had almost fallen asleep together on the sofa. "What can we do for you?" Hermione asked.

"Well, we were wondering how to report a Prefect?" Jane asked timidly.

Harry couldn't hold in a sigh. "Who was it and what'd they do?"

"Ron Weasley. I accidentally ran into him as I was coming into the common room. He took fifty points from us! We had gone to the library to check out a few books for light reading-"

Harry couldn't help but snicker, knowing Hermione's version of light reading. "When we got back, my book stack was so high, I couldn't see over it and I ran into him. He's a pain! He's always turfing out younger students from the seats near the fire." Jane replied.

"And have you seen the guy eat? He's a pig." Summer added.

Mione smiled at that. "Yes, I have."

"Okay. We'll take care of it." Harry grimaced. He went to Nev's room and knocked. It took a minute but both Nev and Luna came out. "Heads meeting guys." He muttered as he sat back down, the young girls had left before he came back.

"Is it Ronald again?" Luna asked.

Harry took a deep breath and let it out slowly, he closed his eyes and laid his head on the back of the couch. He really didn't want to make this decision. When he opened his eyes, he said. "Yes, Luna."

"This is his third infraction." Nev reminded everyone.

"We know but who do we get instead?" Mione asked.

"Well, not Seamus." Nev replied with a laugh, "the idea of him enforcing rules, especially about drinking, is preposterous" they all gave a small chuckle.

"Then it has to be Dean" Mione stated, getting back to the business at hand.

"I think you're right but we better get McGonagall in on this" Nev added.

"I'll go get her." Luna offered as she got up. She wanted to make this as easy on Harry and Hermione as she could.

HP

When Professor McGonagall arrived at the game room, she found the three Gryffindors laying on the couches. "Why are you just laying around?" She asked in her firm 'teacher's voice'.

"Waiting for you" Harry replied with a cheeky grin.

"Well, now that we're here we need to talk about Mr Weasley. This is his third violation. Have you come up with a replacement?"

"Dean." Nev supplied.

"Of the two left, he is the logical choice." She concurred as she got up. "Come along. We'll have to meet in my office." As they left, she sent a portrait to let the Weasley boy know to come to her office. When they got there, they sat talking about anything but Ron. "So, how are you enjoying teaching?" she asked.

"Very well." Hermione smiled. "I like to see the kids actually understand a concept. It's fun."

"Yes. That's why I still do it." She smiled back.

When Ron knocked on the door, Minerva got up to open it. "Come in Mr. Weasley." She had him sit next to Nev and Luna.

"What's going on?" He asked in his brash way.

"Well, we've had another complaint. This time it was from some Gryffindors." Luna began.

He held up his badge "You know what, I'm sick of being hounded by all of you about how I go about my job. Take the badge and give it to someone who gives a damn!" He threw the badge at Harry then, in a nasty tone, he said, "I expect you on the pitch Saturday at 8. There I make decisions, not you!"

"If you use that tone with your players and they complain, you'll lose that badge as well" Minerva replied.

"Yes, ma'am." He said sarcastically as he stalked out of the office.

HP

The rest of the month was very normal for the Family. The four Heads got used to the routine of teaching, being students, and practising quidditch. Of course, on most practice days, either Sirius or Hermione would take Teddy out to watch Harry. When Harry would dive-bomb, Teddy would let out this string of giggles that had Harry laughing as well.

Teddy became a fixture at practices and enjoyed all the attention by, not only his Godfather but all his teammates as well. On the few times he was asleep during practice, everyone complained.

So of course, it was breakfast on the 30th of October, that things started to go a little bit counter-norm. Towards the end of breakfast, Sirius cleared his throat. "I'd like to go home today." He began. "Tomorrow is the 17th anniversary of James and Lily's death and I would like to go visit their graves. Whoever wants to come with me can, I'd also like to just spend time as a family this weekend, no extras. I've never been to their graves and I know Harry's last visit was less than successful." Harry and Hermione just chuckled. "What do you all think?"

"I think that's a great idea Padfoot" Harry responded.

"Yeah. I'd like to say a proper hello to them." Nev whispered, thinking this was the only time he'd ever get to see his godparents.

"That sounds wonderful. You guys need this." Jaime said with a sad look on her face.

Sirius' head popped up. "You're not coming?" he asked in a hurt voice.

"I didn't know if you'd want me to, you said no outsiders." She replied with a sad smile.

"Oh Merlin, I put my foot in it. I didn't mean you, love! I meant like the alliance and the rest of the family, also excluding the Grangers because they are always invited." He said with a chuckle looking at Hermione

"Oh, I would love to if that's the case! I've heard so much about them, it'd be nice to see where they are buried." Jamie said with a small smile, feeling much more certain about her place in the family.

"Good" Sirius responded.

Saturday 31 October 1998

On Saturday morning, Harry woke up before dawn. Not sure why he was awake, he turned to his fiancée and ran his fingers through her hair.

"Gods, I love you Mione." He whispered to her.

"I love you too." Hermione mumbled as her eyes slowly opened. "Why are you up so early, love?" She put her hand on his bare chest.

"I don't know. I just can't stay asleep." He replied with a confused expression.

"Maybe you're worried about going to the Hollow today." She smiled gently at him as he burrowed his head into her breasts.

"Maybe I just wanted to enjoy you." He mumbled as he nipped at them and she giggled.

"You really shouldn't do that unless you want me to do something." She responded breathlessly as he began to explore her.

"Maybe I want to." He smirked as he began a slow but brilliant assault on her body. By the time they were done, they were each extremely satisfied and enjoying the post-coital cuddle as they lay together.

HP

Later that morning, as they all sat down to eat, Jaime took out her wand and started recording. "So, we've talked about how your parents died and how your Godfather was incarcerated. What happened to you during the next ten years?"

"Well, I stayed in my mum's sister's cupboard beneath the stairs for most of that time."

"What?" She nearly shrieked as she dropped her fork. She looked to her lover with surprise. "And you haven't killed them yet?"

"He won't let me" Sirius whined bitterly, "Says I'm better than that or some such rubbish."

"You are and we're not having this discussion-again, I also like having a free godfather not one in Azkaban!" Harry replied forcefully as his green eyes flashed to an almost incandescent emerald.

They spent the rest of the morning discussing the Dursleys.

HP

After a very quiet lunch, Sirius suggested that they go to Godric's Hollow. Apparently, the celebrants go there in the evening, Sirius had been informed by Remus. He wasn't sure if because the war was over, people would still celebrate the first downfall of Voldemort or not but he didn't want to take the chance of running into anyone.

Herry,, Hermione, Dora, Jaime, Sirius, Nev and Luna all apparated to the centre of town and walked silently towards the church. "This is where your parents got married, Harry. Did you know that?" Sirius asked.

"No."

"They had bought their place before they got married so they got to know the people here. When Lily was planning the wedding, which was a bloody nightmare, she decided she wanted a church wedding and that's where it was." Sirius informed them

"Where were my parents married?" Nev asked.

"Oh, where every Longbottom is married. Longbottom Estates." He chuckled. "Alice was just a little pissed that they couldn't have a church wedding. The number of arguments between Augusta and Alice was up to 148 when I just stopped counting."

They went through the kissing gate and Harry headed through the maze of old gravestones in the even older cemetery. He began wandering through but because he had only been there once, he couldn't remember where exactly the graves were. Hermione though knew exactly where she was going, she took Harry's hand and led him to the grave. The rest of the family stood back while Harry talked to his parents. "Hey guys, thought you'd like to know that the bastard who killed you is dead. Yes, I was the one who killed him but not without a lot of help from a lot of people. This witch right here is Hermione, she's my fiancée now and she's the reason I'm alive. She's been my best friend since our first year, unlike the two of you, she's been beside me through literally everything you could imagine. We had no clue we loved each other as more than friends until after the battle. We're now living with Sirius, Tonks and Teddy and we're getting married this summer. Anyway, she's bloody brilliant, just like you mum, Sirius is always comparing you two." He took a deep breath and let out a shuttering breath. "I found out Nev is my godbrother, he and his fiancée live with us as well. You'd like him dad, He's a true Gryff. He killed one of Voldemort's Horcruxes with the Sword of Gryffindor. We didn't know we were Godbrothers until after the battle, don't worry we're making up for lost time now. I just wanted to tell you it was over and that I love and miss you. Could you tell Remus, I'm taking care of Teddy for him? I really do love you guys but Sirius and I are finally building our own family." He waved his wand and a bouquet of lilies landed on their gravestone. He backed up and let Nev through. He then turned to Hermione and held on for dear life as the tears fell.

After Nev was done, everyone else headed out of the cemetery to give Sirius some space to speak to his best mate, Jaime stood by his side being his strength. "Hey there Prongs, Lils. I know I screwed up by going after Pete and letting him get away. I know I wasn't there for Harry when he needed me most but I'll be with him from now on. I'll make sure he has a better life than he has had." He sank to his knees as he wiped his tears away. "He's turned into an amazing young man Prongs, just like you. He won't let me go after your family Lils because he doesn't want me to go to Azkaban again." He thought a moment. "He's got a bloody brilliant fiancée. You'd like her Lils. She finally got your muggle stuff to work with magic-well, her and Nev's fiancée Luna. Luna may be a Claw but she's a lion at heart. She came to save me in the Ministry at the end of her fourth year. That takes spunk and bravery." He looked over at Jaime and motioned her forward as he stood. "Come here love," He smiled at his girlfriend "Yes Lily, I finally have a girlfriend, her name's Jaime actually." He chuckled at that. "I know, I know. You think I'm Imperioused but I'm not. She's amazing and I do love her Prongs, like you love Lily. You know me, I never got attached to any bird, but this beauty has actually gotten me to go to Hampton Court and Stonehenge. Crazy, huh? My voluntarily learning history? Well, I just wanted to say that you are loved and missed, so much more than you would ever think, I love you both so much. I'll talk to you again soon."


	33. Chapter 33

**A/N Sorry this chapter is so late. All I can say is even though we're in lockdown it doesn't stop you from feeling overwhelmed. I'm back to normal so I'll be updating more often. Thanks for all your reviews. Thanks to my BRILLIANT beta Karatekid-Ninja. She makes this so much easier!Love her muches.**

**Ch. 33**

**Saturday 31 October 1998**

While everybody had been watching Harry, Dora slipped off with her son to visit the man she'd always love. "Hey Wolfie." Dora smiled through her tears, knowing that name always irritated him. "We're coming up on Christmas here and I just want to say that you are missed. I really wish you had survived, love. You would love watching Harry learning how to be a good Godfather. It's funny. The first time Teddy had a cold, Sirius was so calm and steady, it was like he was channeling you. Did you have something to do with that?" She laughed. She could imagine James and Remus laughing it up while she was having her little breakdown. Remus would've loved Sirius having to point out that Teddy didn't hate her. "I have a feeling your calm presence was there helping him out. I know it's been with me since I started teaching. I think I love it almost as much as you did. We miss you and love you so much Remus." She wiped her eyes as she said, "I really wish you were here but I'll try and make you proud Wolfie." She turned Teddy towards Remus' grave. "Say goodbye Daddy." she whispered to him as he gurgled happily.

**HP**

When they all apparated home, they settled into the game room. Like usual, Nev racked the balls and started playing. Instead of his usual opponent, Tonks picked up the other cue and started chalking it.

The rest of the family was sitting near the fire. "I was thinking that I might do a book from the Order's perspective about the first war." Jaime prompted.

"That's a good idea. I'm sure King would let you paw through our files. Quite frankly, the Prophet was better at actually reporting news, not fabricating it, back then." Dora put in.

Hermione looked at the way Sirius and Jaime were cuddled into the bean bag and smiled. Sirius was generally a happy person, at least since he was declared innocent, but now he seemed content with his life. It was really nice seeing her crazy uncle this way.

"What're you thinkin' about?" Harry asked as they curled up together with Teddy on the sofa.

"Just thinking that life seems to be good right now. I mean, even Sirius is in a stable relationship. We all seem to be doing well, everything is looking good." Hermione sighed happily.

Sirius and Harry groaned. "Don't say that. Everything will go wrong now." Harry kissed her head.

They spent until the next evening just enjoying each other and spending time as a family. They spent more time talking about the Dursleys. Tonks also talked about what she remembered of that period in the wizarding world.

That evening, they asked Harry what he wanted to watch. He chose Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. They also spent time planning who was going to take whom to the quidditch match next week. It was decided that Xeno and Arthur would pick up the Grangers and Sirius and Jaime would pick up the kids. Harry was adamant that they come.

When they got back to school, they decided to eat in the Great Hall. As Harry and Mione sat down with Nev and Luna, they heard a very loud voice coming from further down the table. "Saint Potter and his toadies are back! Wow! I guess we are graced with their presence-"

"Ron. Shut. It." Nev said firmly. "It was the anniversary of his parents' death and we went to their graves." He finished in a low voice.

"Well, where was he today? We had practice and he didn't show."

"That's bloody because you bloody woke us up at five o'clock in the bloody morning, you bloody prat." Demzela growled. "And you kept us out until a bloody hour ago." Then she turned to Harry. "This is my first meal today."

"Sounds worse than Wood." Harry reminisced about his old Captain.

"I'm going to bed." Ginny rose wearily from her seat. As everyone watched, she weaved her way down the table like a drunk sailor.

"Demzela, can you check on Ginny when you get to the tower? I'm afraid she won't make it." Luna asked.

"Will do." She replied as she also rose and left the Great Hall.

The rest of the week was taken up with mundane things: breakfast and dinner with The Family, planning the Yule Ball (the guys would sit and nod while the girls planned), teaching, schoolwork and practice.

**Friday 5 November 1998**

It was Friday night after practice when Hermione was rubbing Harry's shoulders that the kids were brought up "So, Sirius and Jaime. You have to go pick up Penny, Kyle, Richard and Alex. They'll be ready at eight."

Sirius laughed. "We know Harry. It'll be fine. Everyone will be here in plenty of time, kiddo." He ruffled his godson's hair.

"Oh, and I won't make breakfast tomorrow because we'll eat as a team in the Great Hall. Ron informed me of this today." He shook his head.

**Saturday 6 November 1998**

Harry got up with Teddy that morning and spent time rocking him while he was eating. Almost as he was done, there was a loud knock on the door. "C'mon in. I can't open it right now." He sighed, hoping it wasn't Jaime.

Ginny threw the door open as she came in and threw herself on the sofa as she groaned. "That git of a brother flew outside our dorm window to wake us up-at half five in the bloody morning!"

"Hello to you too Ginny." Harry grinned as he turned Teddy to burp.

"Sorry Harry. He's just been so difficult since the war, I'm starting to worry." Gin looked at how adorable Harry was with Teddy.

"I'm sure he'll be fine when he gets done with school. Hopefully, he'll grow up a bit then." He smiled at his ex-girlfriend. He went silent for a little while, then asked, "How're you and Dean doing?"

It amazed Harry at the transformation Ginny's face went through. "Great. I can see us together long term." She grinned happily.

"That's brilliant." He smiled as Dora came in. "Here's your child Dora. I need to go."

"Yeah. Just leave me with the little monster." She smirked.

"Well, he can't fly yet. Unless you'll let him?" he asked hopefully

Dora snorted. "No way in hell buster." She and Ginny laughed at his hangdog expression as he and Ginny left. They walked in silence to the great hall where Ron was eating everything he could. "The game isn't until nine, why are you guys up so early?" he asked.

"Ron!" everyone yelled.

"He woke up at five and started pacing." Seamus, a new beater, groaned.

"We kicked him out at half five." Dean continued.

"That's when he woke us up." Demzela continued.

"That's also when I nearly Bat-Bogeyed him." Ginny concluded.

"I'm surprised you didn't." Harry commented.

She shrugged. "We need him as a keeper today. I can wait. Revenge is best served cold." She said evilly.

"Well, if you're all done blaming me for your wake-up call, we need to get down to the pitch." Ron sighed.

"Are you guys done complaining?" Harry asked with a grin on his face.

Cauldwood, the new chaser, looked at the other girls. "Yeah, I think we're done." As they headed for the pitch, she said to Harry. "By the way, my little sister is Adriana in your first-year class. She loves your lessons. She can't stop talking about you four as teachers."

Harry's face went red as everyone laughed. "Tell her thanks, I guess."

When they got down to the pitch, they got changed and started running drills. By the time they started doing drills, it was half seven.

**HP**

Meanwhile, the Family was eating breakfast and getting ready for the day. Eventually, Sirius and Jaime floo'd to LAR and found four kids standing next to the fireplace with packs on. Venus was standing with them, dressed for a day out in the stands.

"You coming too Venus?" Sirius grinned.

"Thought I'd surprise Auntie." She grinned back.

"If you can surprise Minnie, that'd be a feat." Then he looked at the kids. "So, ready to see Harry clobber the Puffs?" He asked them.

"Yeah!" All four yelled.

"Hey! Some of you may be Puffs. I wouldn't knock them if I were you." Venus teased.

"I'm not. I'm going to be a Lion, like Harry." Penny said stubbornly.

"You're just stubborn enough to be one of us Lions." Sirius picked the girl up. He then grabbed Kyle while Jaime and Venus took the other two. They floo'd to Sirius' flat. "Okay. Stay with us guys, we don't want to lose you." Sirius yelled as they bolted off. Luckily Sirius had thought to get the Map from Harry's robes last night and found each kid staring into the Great Hall where people were eating.

Penny ran up to Sirius. "This hall looks a lot like ours." She gestured to the Great Hall.

"Yep. And see that lady up there with the hat on?" Sirius pointed to Minerva. Penny and the boys nodded. "That's Venus' Auntie."

"Wow!" Richard said in awe.

"Can we meet her?" Kyle asked.

"Sure, love." Venus took the boys' hands and strode up to the head table.

"This is where Jaime and I sit at lunch." Sirius informed them. "And that table is my Lion's and where Harry and his friends sit." He smiled at Minerva as she looked down at them.

"Oh, stop it Auntie." Venus laughed at her Aunt's strict face. "These are some of my charges. Penny, Kyle, Richard and Anthony."

Minerva gave them a bright smile. "Would you like to sit with me in the announcer's box?"

"I would." Kyle grinned as he went around and fitted himself in Minerva's lap. Everyone at the table laughed at the surprised look on her face.

"Okay. I'll leave you in Auntie's care." Venus said as she, Sirius and Jaime left with the others. They dropped each kid off with their respective Head and took Penny to the clubhouse, Penny on Sirius' shoulders the whole way.

"Harry! Someone's here for you!" Sirius called as he heard rapid footsteps coming to him. Harry just picked Penny up and started tickling her. While she screamed in delight, the team just looked on in amusement.

"We best get on the Pitch." Ron said as Harry gave Penny back.

"We better go up to the stands little girl." Sirius picked her back up.

"Bye Harry! Good luck!" Penny called out.

"I won't need it. I have you." He ruffled her hair as he left.

It was a good game and everyone played fair. After all, this wasn't Slytherin they were playing. What was amusing to the adults in the crowd, and there were a lot, was the quiet wonder of the boy in the announcer's box. The comments of "Wow! That Gryffindor Keeper is good!" to "that redhead chaser is as pretty as Penny." To "That Puff beater has it in for that black guy." were heard by them all.

Eventually, Harry found the snitch and was going for it when everyone around them heard Penny say "Harry found the snitch."

"How do you know?" Jaime asked.

"The look on his face. He's mad. He only gets that look when he's concentrating-like when we read together. See, he's frowning." She explained as they watched him catch the snitch to win the game.

**HP**

The Gryffindor party lasted quite a while. The four kids plus Teddy made an appearance-Teddy being passed off to the whole female population of the house. Dora could hear several boys asking if they were gonna have to have "one of those things" ever. Granted most of those were first-years.

Eventually, The Family plus Xeno, Arthur, Dan, Emma, Augusta, Venus and all the kids got together for dinner in the Heads' flat. "That was a great game Harry." Xeno complimented.

"Thanks Xeno."

"I understand Hermione's letters her first few years now much better." Emma cringed. "That game is terrifying to watch. I thought you were dead at least twice with those beaters coming straight at you Harry."

He laughed. "Boy, you sound like Mione. But you also have to remember that she's the one that set Snape's robes on fire because she thought he was jinxing me."

"You set a teacher's robes on fire?" Kyle asked with delight. "Brilliant!" all three boys said as Penny laughed.

"He was hurting my friend! What was I supposed to do?" she objected.

"I don't know." Nev drawled. "Maybe get another teacher?"

"Harry could've been dead by then!" she countered as she got a little flustered. "Besides, it's a bloody good thing I kept him alive!"

"Yes dear." Emma smiled.

**HP**

That evening when Sirius dropped Jaime off at her quarters,, he looked down at her and smiled as she looked up at him. "I love you Jaime." He gave her a light kiss on her lips. She deepened it until they were both out of breath.

When Sirius pulled away, Jaime still had her arms around his neck. "I love you too, very much."

She smiled as she let herself into her quarters.

**Tuesday 10 November 1998**

The next few days were a little strange for Hermione. She woke up most mornings now with Harry as he got Ted up because she was being sick in the toilet. Although she was sick at all times of the day it seemed. She was also getting sick at the smell of bangers, which beside bacon was her favorite breakfast food. By Tuesday, she had banned the cooking of them in the flat.

On Tuesday though, it began with Harry cooking breakfast. Just as Jaime and Sirius were coming in, Hermione was rushing to the bathroom. "What's wrong with Mione?" Jaime asked.

"She's been heaving all morning but she won't go to Pomfrey." Harry informed them.

"That's because I am just feeling a little off-colour. I'll be fine soon." Hermione stated as she came in to sit down.

"Do you have your lesson plans for today?" Jaime asked.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Because you look like death warmed over." She responded. "I'll take your classes today. And you'll take the day off from your school classes as well."

In an uncharacteristic move, she just went to her room, collected her lessons and brought them out to Jaime. She then said "I'm going to bed."

After she left, everyone just looked at each other incredulously. "Did she just admit she was too sick to go to classes?" Nev asked.

"Yep." Harry looked at the door to his room uncertainly. "I'm gonna go check on her. Dobby could you clean all this up?" he asked about their breakfast.

"Of course, Harry Potter Sir." He smiled. Harry got up and went into his bedroom. He found Hermione on the edge of the bed heaving into a plastic tub. He hurried over and held her hair back.

"Are you all right love?" He asked gently.

"Do I look all right?" she snarked back.

He shrugged and laughed. "Fair point." He started trying to help her into bed. Realising she was still dressed; he transfigured her clothes to pajamas. "Get into bed love. I'll be back at lunch. Dobby's here if you need him."

She just pushed him away. "Go to class. I'll be fine." She laid back and promptly fell asleep.

**Friday 13 November 1998**

The next few days were very weird for Harry. Hermione would wake up in the morning, be sick for a few minutes and then get up and do her normal daily routine.

It was on Friday morning that Hermione and Harry finally talked about the elephant in the room. "Mione, I'm really nervous about you being sick. I'm wondering if you should see Poppy." Harry suggested softly as he took her hand as they sat on the bed. "I'm really worried love."

She squeezed his hand and said, "Why don't we wait until we get back from East Grinstead on Sunday? Then we'll see her, yeah."

He nodded. "Okay. Sunday."

**HP**

That evening was a typical Friday night. They ate dinner, although Harry noticed Hermione did not eat much, and talked a little more about their time at school to Jaime.

"You know Jaime, I've never thought Harry would be this open about all the stuff that we went through. He's usually not a talker." Mione commented in the game room after dinner.

"I think he just wants all this famous treatment over." Nev supplied.

"You mean the faster the book gets out, the faster he'll not have to answer questions?"

"Yep."

Hermione nodded as she made herself comfortable in a bean bag. "Makes sense."

"You know I'm here yeah?" Harry asked, irritated at them ignoring him.

"Yes dear." Mione patted his hand as though he were a small child. At this, he glared until she started laughing. "I love teasing you. You are so easy to rile and I know how to get to you."

He laughed, a glint of mirth in his eye, and said, "Just wait until NEWTs, then we'll see how you handle teasing."

She got a serious look on her face. "You better not."

They then watched Terminator 2 together. Mione only got up once to be sick.

**HP**

The next morning, Harry woke up to Hermione laying in his arms as he held her closely. His mind kept wandering to what their little girl would look like. Spending all this time with Penny and Kyle, not to mention Teddy, was making him really think he wanted a biological family of his own, sooner rather than later. Quite frankly, he wanted a little girl with bushy hair and chocolate eyes to spoil rotten.

"What are you thinking of so hard my love?" Mione asked as she stretched, inadvertently rubbing her naked body up his nearly naked one.

He groaned as he flipped her on her back. "You really shouldn't do that." He growled as he started placing kisses all over her beautiful body.

"What if I just want you?" she responded huskily as her hands started wandering.

**HP**

Sirius woke up to noises he thought he'd never have to hear again. He rolled over and nudged up against his beautiful girlfriend. Sometimes it was actually hard to believe this beautiful witch was his. He'd always had witches in his bed, but not someone as special as Jaime. Someone he could see himself spending the rest of his life with. He'd never felt this desire just to see how she's doing, just know that she's okay. It was so strange.

"What are you thinking about, hon?" He heard her ask.

He looked down at her and smiled. "You actually. Us." He smiled as she went tomato red.

"Actually that's a good thing." She smiled through her blush. She moved to sit up in the bed. "I was thinking that since you seem to spend nearly all your nights the last month at my place, that we might want to move in together. I know you could never live as far from Harry as I do." She took a deep breath and said as she exhaled. "So, I was thinking I could move in with you." She looked at him, a little scared he'd say no.

He got one of his goofy grins on his face. "That sounds brilliant, love."

**HP**

When Harry and Hermione came down to breakfast later that morning, everyone was already at the table. Sirius looked at Harry with irritation. "From what your grandma Fee told us, I witnessed with your parents and now you, let me give you a piece of advice Harry."

"Sure. What's up?" He began eating.

Sirius stood up and leaned over the table to put his face in Harry's personal space. "SILENCING CHARMS! Please LEARN AND USE them!"

"Oh." Harry said as his and Mione's faces went beet red.

"You could have been more polite." Jaime looked at Sirius with exasperation clear on her face.

"Potters don't do subtle. You have to be blunt." He grinned at Dora who was trying her best not to laugh.

"So, what are we doing today?" Luna asked.

"I think we should talk to Fleur today." Mione suggested as Luna nodded.

"I need to talk to Dirk." Nev said.

"I should check in with Venus." Harry said.

"Don't you mean Penny?" Mione teased.

"No. I may see her but I need to see Venus." Harry said firmly. Sirius, Dora and Nev laughed at him. "I'll probably be back before lunch, unless I get done early and decide to take Penny out." He got up and found Teddy's nappy bag and took him from Dora. "C'mon little man. Let's leave these mean people alone." He said as he walked to the apparition room.

**HP**

Soon Sirius and Jaime were the only ones home. Sirius was laying on the sofa in the game room with Jaime laying on his stomach looking up at him. He looked into her blue eyes and sighed as he asked. "So, what do I need to know to make a good impression on your brother next week?"

She laughed. "Nothing. Just be yourself. You and he are going to get on, I know it. You've got the same sense of humour."

"He's married, yeah?"

"Yeah. His wife Sarah just had a baby girl this summer. Her name's Jordan." She smiled. "She's the only grandkid so she's spoilt rotten."

"Are your sisters married?"

"Yup. Jaina married Kurt and Jaycee married Dennis."

"But no kids?"

"No. I think both of them like being childless. They live right next door to each other and enjoy entertaining. They'd both love this place, especially the outdoor kitchen."

"They can come any time they'd like." Sirius smiled at the horrified look on his girlfriend's face.

"Don't say that! We'll never get rid of them!" he just laughed.

"We can always put up more houses on the property if they want to come here a lot." He shrugged.

"You are so sweet." She reached up and kissed him. "My parents and Mark can come any time. My sisters, not so much."

"You don't get along with them?"

"It's not that we don't get along but they're identical twins and they prefer each other's company above ours. They married best friends who seem to understand their bond. I sure don't. They're also 7 years younger than I am and 10 years younger than Mark so there is almost a generation gap between us." She explained.

"What are your parents like?"

"Dad is a teacher in San Jose at the same school as Mark. Mom's the Headmistress."

**HP**

Everyone came back together that afternoon. In fact, while the girls and Nev got back around lunch, Harry didn't make it until just before everyone was to come.

It was while they were eating lunch that Sirius noticed a real lack of appetite with Mione. "Mione, you don't seem to be eating much these days. Are you sick?" He asked, concerned.

"No. I don't know what's up. I just don't have my usual appetite." She smiled at her uncle.

"I want you to go see Poppy tomorrow when we get back, yeah?"

"I was planning on it."

"Good girl." He patted her head.

She shook his hand off saying. "I'm not the dog, you are, mutt."

Everyone got a good laugh at that.

**HP**

When Harry got back, he woke Mione up from a deep nap. "Mione, wake up, love." He whispered in her ear. "We've got the meeting."

"In a minute." She shoved him away.

"C'mon love." He shook her a bit

"I'm up, I'm up." She opened her eyes.

"So how long have you been napping?" Harry asked amusedly.

She looked at her watch. "Four hours." She groaned. "And I'm still tired. Why am I so tired?" she asked as she got dressed.

"I don't know, love. Hopefully, Poppy will have answers tomorrow." He rubbed his scar.

"Are you alright?" Mione asked nervously.

"Yeah, just nervous about tomorrow." She took his hand as they went downstairs to greet their guests. They directed them out to the patio where there were warming charms in the area where they usually met.

Everyone spent the dinner hour getting reacquainted. Harry was talking to Susan Bones for a while. "I'm just really nervous we're foisting all these changes so fast." She explained. "I mean, Voldemort only died six months ago. Why are we trying to change the world so fast?"

"Because if we don't do it before the oldsters can block us, it may never get done." Harry replied.

"I'm just worried all this is too much for some."

"The people who are going to have a problem with these reforms are the bigots and I don't care what they think." Mel Ogden interrupted. "I don't want his generation," she pointed to Teddy in Harry's arms, "to have to pick up from us. But you're right. We're getting a lot of blowback from the more 'conservative' faction. I've been going with Dad to the meetings and a lot and of them are screaming we're going too fast."

Sirius cleared his throat as everyone stopped talking. Dinner had been cleared by Dobby and Mitzy and dessert was being served. "As my friends get dessert on the table, I'd like to start the meeting."

"What do you all have for us this time?" Charles Abbott groaned, expecting a proposal from the heirs.

Sirius just barked in laughter. "Nothing that I know of Charles. However, I would like to say that the ones who are still at Hogwarts tend to congregate at the Lion's table and talk through lunch."

Susan stood. "Some of us are worried that with all the changes our Alliance is proposing, we are going too fast for people to catch up."

Hannah stood. "I've talked to Michael Corner and he says his dad is really nervous about these changes. Unfortunately, while we've convinced him, we have not convinced his Dad."

"Can you girls give us a list of those you know are having a hard time?" Silas asked.

"Sure." Hannah smiled.

"The politicking Augusta and I have done bears their theory out." Sirius supplied. "There are some that are terrified we're going to take away their position on the Wizengamot." He laughed.

They spent the rest of that meeting coming up with ways to alleviate those concerns. Harry wasn't really paying attention though because he was more concerned with the twice his Mione got up to be sick.

Towards the end of the meeting, Augusta spoke. "I have talked to Griselda Marchbanks and as the presentations are all done, she is now talking about handing out a parchment for approval from the Wizengamot about the new organization of the ministry that Minister Shacklebolt is suggesting."

Everyone looked at King and he stood up. "We've all talked about the connection between the Wizengamot and the Ministry being nearly non-existent. What I am suggesting is that the Committees we sit on more accurately reflect the departments in the Ministry. For instance, the Muggle Relations committee will oversee Arthur's department Misuse of Muggle Artifacts. His budget will now go to them instead of the DMLE. They will have their own Committee dedicated to just them." He sat down.

"Can we see this parchment?" Ogden asked.

"Griselda wants to hand it out this week and start debate next week." Augusta informed them. "I don't expect a vote until after Yule though."

**HP**

The next morning, while Harry was getting up, Mione was throwing up. "Merlin! This is a nightmare!" She screamed as she walked downstairs for breakfast.

"You okay there Mione?" Harry asked as she came into the kitchen.

"No. I'm tired, sick and I need to pee all the bloody time." She growled as she sat down. "I'm tired of this and I want it to go away! I have grading to do!" Then she dropped her fork. "I forgot my Transfiguration essay is due tomorrow. Oh rubbish!" She started crying as she laid her head on Harry's shoulder. Sirius pointed upstairs at Harry. He nodded as he picked his fiancée up in his arms and took her upstairs to their bed. By the time he put her there, she was asleep. He looked down and his heart clenched. If there was ever one thing now to get him worried and scared, it was something wrong with his Mione. It felt as though there was something wrong with him. It almost felt like it did when Teddy was sick and he was bound and determined to take some of this off her plate.

He went to her beaded bag and summoned all the papers that needed grading. He went upstairs to the game room where everyone was and was out of breath. He looked at his godfather and said. "She's on our bed asleep. She fell asleep in my arms." Then he looked at Jaime and thrust the papers at her. "Either show me how to grade them or do it for her. She's not touching any work until she sees Poppy. She WILL take care of herself!" he nearly screamed the last.

Jaime came up to him and took the papers to put them on the table. Then she took Harry in a hug. "It's okay, hon. We'll take everything we can off her plate until she gets better. If that means I'm teaching everything, so be it. Maybe. . . Luna could you take on the responsibility for the Yule Ball?"

"Sure. We're still having trouble finding a band." She smiled. "Anything for Hermione."

"I'll grade her papers." Dora offered as the took the folder from Jaime. "You concentrate on teaching."

"I can take your third years, Dora so you can help Jaime." Nev said.

"That means you two," Jaime pointed at Sirius and Harry, "take care of our girl, okay?"

Harry and Sirius smiled. "Thanks guys." Harry said. "It means a lot that you're willing to help. Honestly, I was trying to figure out how to take her load as well as mine when I walked up here." He sighed. "I forgot I don't have to do it alone anymore because I have family."

"That's what family is for." Jaime grinned. "Ask Mark about that when he's here."

"No problem, mate." Nev smiled at his godbrother. Sirius just gave him a side hug and kiss on the head.

"I'm gonna go write my essay. I forgot it too." Harry grinned. As he left, he saw Dora getting ready to grade and sighed in contentment. It was hard for him to remember that he had a family he could rely on but he'd get used to it, he thought.

**HP**

Mione slept right through lunch. She woke up and went to the game room. "Where'd my grading go?" she asked the room at large.

"It's done." Dora supplied.

Harry jumped up and brought her some books and her computer. "Here's what you need for the essay for Transfiguration. At least, it's what I used."

She sat down, surprise on her face. "Why's the grading done?"

"Until you're feeling better, Jaime's teaching your classes, Dora's taking grading, Luna's taking the Ball and Nev's taking Dora's third years." Sirius listed.

"Again, why?"

"Because you need to rest, love." Harry smiled at her.

"You know, a year ago, you would be in trouble with me for thinking I couldn't do all this but you're right. I need the help." She smiled as Harry started breathing again.

"Wow. No blow out." Sirius sighed happily.

"No blow out." She smiled. "Thank you everyone." Then she ran to the loo.

**HP**

Later that afternoon, everyone was done with their individual tasks and they decided to go back to the castle. As everyone floo'd into the Heads' game room, Harry grabbed Mione and looked at his godfather. "We'll see you for dinner." He said as he led Mione to Hospital. They were both very quiet, thinking of all the things that could be wrong with her.

When they got there Pomfrey was fixing a broken bone. "Hello." She said as she looked over at them and frowned. "Sit over there please." She waved her hand at Harry's usual bed. Hermione sat on the bed and Harry took a chair.

When Pomfrey got there, she looked a little confused at the seating. "Mr. Potter, I need you on the bed please."

"I'm not the one sick, although I can't blame you for thinking that." He grinned charmingly at the healer.

"Miss Granger?" she asked. After describing her symptoms, Pomfrey did a few charms over her. She gave Mione a potion. "Take this dear." Mione drank it and was handed a cup. "Please pee into this." Hermione went to the bathroom and a minute later, Pomfrey and Harry heard a scream. Harry jumped up at the sound as Pomfrey laughed and held him back. "It's okay Mr. Potter. She'll be out in a minute and I know what's wrong."

"What?" he demanded as he turned on her.

"Wait until Hermione joins us." She shook her head as Hermione came out.

"Why is my pee green?" she shoved the cup at Pomfrey as she sat on the bed.

Pomfrey smiled delightedly. "You're pregnant, Miss Granger."

And Harry fainted.

**A/N That last line was I think my favorite line to write so far.**


	34. Chapter 34

**A/N Thank you very much for staying with me through all of the missed deadlines. Hope you all are enjoying this lockdown just as much as I am (which is not at all!) I also want to thank Karatekid-ninja because she just makes this such an easier 's a wonderful beta! Here's Ch. 34. You'll get ch 35 next weekend**

**Ch. 34**

**Saturday 21 November 1998**

Jaime, and a reluctant Padfoot, were up at the crack of dawn "What if he doesn't like it here? What if you both don't get along with him? What if he has trouble fitting in here?" She quickly fired at her boyfriend.

Sirius stopped in front of her taking her hands into his, "Love, everything will be fine, we'll help him fit in and he'll love the family. You did, didn't you?" He hugged her as she buried her nose in his neck.

"You're comfy. I know I'm overreacting but he is my brother and I want him to like you guys, especially you" She muttered as he laughed and kissed her hair.

"You keep telling me how alike we are, I'm sure we'll get along just fine." She curled up to his chest, he could feel her relax in his arms as she calmed down. She took a few deep breaths and when she looked up into his eyes, he could see _his_ witch in her eyes, not the panicked person she'd been all morning. "Thank Merlin! You're back." He grinned at her as she hit him in the shoulder lightly.

"Breakfast!" His godson called.

Around the breakfast table a few minutes later, Hermione asked, "So how is Mark getting here?"

"He's taking a portkey to the Ministry, where he has to check in before he is able to take the next portkey to the castle, he will arrive there in about an hour. I thought Sirius and I could meet him and bring him back here."

"Got any plans for while he's here?" Hermione continued

"I thought that today we'd bring him home and spend the weekend there, I think he'll enjoy family dinner Sunday night. He also wants to observe some classes while he's here, he has agreed to teach some lessons about American History to my fourth years. I'm hoping he'll be comfortable enough to come back and bring the family for a longer visit, preferably during holidays where I can show them around properly."

"I'm sure he will love it." Hermione smiled comfortingly, giving Jaime's hand a squeeze across the table.

**HP**

A little under an hour later, Sirius and Jaime left for the castle gates. The rest of the Family had dispersed-the boys to do some more research for essays due the following week and the girls to their offices to get ready for the next week. Dora was putting Teddy down for his morning snooze and hoping to get a bit of marking done before he got up again.

On the walk down to the gates, Sirius started to get really nervous, this was the first time he had to do the whole meeting the family thing. Jaime could feel the tension through their joint hands, She stopped and took his other hand, giving them both a squeeze she said "He's my brother Siri, he just wants me to be happy. When he sees you make me happy, he'll be just fine."

"I know. I just want to make a good impression, I've never done this before." He smiled down at her and they continued walking the last little bit to the gates, as they arrived a man stepped out of the whirlwind created by the portkey. To Sirius, he was huge, probably about 6'4" with long, dirty blond hair. _He could crush me like a bug!_ Sirius thought. What made Sirius smile and reach out to offer his hand was the bright smile on the younger man's face.

"You must be Sirius, right?" Mark asked in a booming voice as he took Sirius' hand.

"Yeah." Sirius replied as Mark looked over at his sister.

"And you Jaime. How're you doin'?" He grinned at his little sister.

She ran and jumped on him to give him a hug. "I've missed you Mar. I've missed you so much." She said into his chest as she burst into tears. Seeing him for the first time in over two months was overwhelming to say the least. This was the sibling who had helped her through all the bad times in her life and he had not been here to help her through this last transition.

"Hey Jame. I'm right here kiddo." He soothed as he held Jaime to him. "I'm right here. No need to get emotional." After she was done hugging him and crying, she looked up at him, kissed his cheek, took a deep breath, letting it out slowly to help calm herself down.

"I'm so glad you're here." Then she looked over at Sirius. "Sirius, I'd like you to meet my crazy brother Mark."

Mark smiled at Sirius as Jaime stood with Sirius. Mark noticed the proprietary way Sirius held his sister. Even though Mark never really liked Jaime's boyfriends, he liked the way this one treated her right off. "Thanks for making this move easier for Jaime." Mark smiled as Sirius led them up to the castle.

"My pleasure." He grinned as they walked in the entryway.

"Wow!" Mark sighed as he looked around him in awe. "I know you told me you lived in a castle but it was hard to picture, sis."

"I know. You should see the library they have here too. It's bloody brilliant, not to mention the library at home." She smiled as she walked into the game room.

Mark stopped dead in the doorway. "This place is amazing." He looked over at Sirius. "Is this your place?"

Sirius laughed at his wide-eyed look. "No, it's my godson's but it's a replica of our game room at home." He sighed as he looked at Mark. "I know. It's every guy's dream room, yeah?"

"Yeah." He smiled as Sirius tossed him a soda as he sat down. "Your godson is Harry Potter, right?"

"Yeah, his dad, James, was one of my best friends in school. You'll meet the whole family soon, they'll be back for lunch." He smiled.

"It's not a traditional family Mark, there are no blood relatives, except Hermione and her parents Emma and Dan, who you'll meet tonight. They are a ragtag group who have kind of adopted each other, they are all connected through Harry, in one way or another. Why don't I show you my classroom quickly before everyone gets back?"

"Sure thing sis, thanks for the warning but family is family no matter how it is made, I'll see ya in a bit Sirius."

"Jaime, why don't you bring Mark to the house when you're done? I'll call everyone and let them know to be there at noon, everyone can meet there."

She smiled as she said. "Sure sweetheart, you're going now?"

"Yeah, I have Wizengamot paperwork I need to finish up." She gave him a kiss before showing Mark out, he called everyone to tell them the new plan and went home.

**HP**

When Sirius got home he began to work on the last of his grading, putting off the Wizengamont work until later, after working solidly for two hours he decided to take a break, one his way down to the kitchen the family started to arrive, Nev and Harry were the first to arrive. "Hey Sirius. Where's Jaime?" Nev asked, they all went to the kitchen to make some tea quickly for the family.

"Showing Mark her classroom, I had some work I wanted to get finished so I could enjoy our weekend" He returned. The next to arrive was Dora with Teddy, they headed to the game room, on the way up Sirius took Teddy into his arms "Hey little man. How are you?" He sat down to snuggle him. "I miss your dad so much, he'd know just what to say. Even at Grimmauld he could do that. Your daddy was amazing." Teddy just reached up and pulled Sirius' hair and giggled. "Your dad used to do that too when I was growing it out." He smiled thinking of his friend. It had become easier over the months to think about Moony he found, if he was talking to Teddy. Soon after they had settled into the games room, Hermione and Luna wondered up, chatting excitedly.

**HP**

"That school is amazing." Mark grinned as they floo'd into the Madhouse.

"Told you you'd love it."

"I can't believe you actually teach in a castle. That's just amazing."

"Amazing yes. Warm no." Sirius laughed as he handed Teddy to Harry and greeted them at the top of the stairs.

"Didn't think of that. No indoor heating except fire. That'd suck." Mark looked as though he'd bitten into a grapefruit, Mark started giggling as he looked around. "You weren't kidding about their family room being a duplicate Jaime."

"No, we did that because we spend so much time here when we are home that we didn't want to leave it when at school." Nev replied.

As everyone sat down, Sirius got up. "So Mark, let me introduce you to my family, this is my godson Harry." He pointed to each person. "His dad James was one of my best friends. Next to him is his fiancée Hermione who saved my life in their third and fifth years. Next is Neville, his dad and mum were also very good friends of ours in school, his mum is Harry's Godmum and the Potters were Nev's godparents, Nev also came to save me in their fifth year. Next is Luna, his fiancée, another person who came to save me in their fifth year, actually she was a fourth year at the time. Then there's my cousin Dora and her son Teddy. Teddy's Dad was best friends with both James and I in school. Everyone, this is Mark, Jaime's older brother."

A round of nice-to-meet-yous went around the room. Afterwards, Mark looked at Sirius, "So why'd you need saving twice by teenagers?"

Sirius laughed his barklike laugh. "Well, that's a long story." He said as he began the tale, this time though with commentary by all.

"I have to tell you Mark, there's no way you'd ever get me to fly unless it was with Harry." Hermione smiled. "It was the look in his eyes as he asked for help that got me. That and Sirius was gonna get the Dementor's Kiss for something he didn't do."

Then Luna and Nev took up the story of the Department of Mysteries. By the end, Mark looked at Sirius and said "I don't want you getting Jaime into any of your shenanigans, Sirius. She doesn't need it."

"Don't worry. My days of being hot headed are over with. Now, I just play a few pranks at school." He grinned.

"No matter what Mark, eat nothing at lunch in the castle, or drink for that matter." Luna warned.

"Why?"

"That's when I test my new potions on the students." Sirius grinned and they spent the next hour regaling Mark with stories of the pranks Sirius had played on the students.

As they walked down to lunch, Sirius said. "You know, your sister can be brutal in her pranks. Usually when she throws an idea out, I'm the one that has to bring it down a notch. You have no idea how odd that is for me. I'm usually the one going the step too far. I mean having the students of each house have the fur of their house mascot is great but them only being able to hiss or roar instead of talk too is a little over the top."

At that Mark burst out laughing so much the rest of the family just looked at him like he was mental, eventually he calmed down and they began to eat. "Jaime." He tried to look sternly at his sister but it failed horribly because he was still grinning. Then he looked to Sirius, "We got a month's detention from that prank at school."

Everyone got a laugh out of that. At the end of lunch, Sirius called out "Dobby!" The little elf popped in.

"Yes, Master Dogfather."

"I want to introduce you to Mark, Jaime's brother. Mark, if you need anything, and I mean anything, this week call for Dobby. He'll get you squared away."

"I put Mr. Mark's luggage in the room Ms. Jaime used her first time here." Dobby grinned.

"Thanks Dobby." Mark smiled as Dobby nodded and popped out.

After that, Mark, Sirius and Harry decided to go flying, Jaime, Hermione, Dora and Luna went to the pool and Nev went to see Dirk.

About an hour after they separated, Jaime asked, worry in her voice, "I wonder how they're doing out there, if Mark is behaving."

"I'm sure he is. If not, Sirius and Harry will figure out what's wrong." Hermione laughed.

"I'm just worried because Mar and I have always been close and I want him to feel comfortable here." Jaime bit her lip in frustration.

At that moment the men came into the pool house laughing. "I can't believe you actually got away with that." Mark grinned.

"Well, we didn't actually, we got detention." Harry laughed. "And Ron got a Howler."

"You wanna talk about detentions, Mark's the king of how to get detentions." Jaime grinned at her brother.

"I didn't get detentions until you showed up!" Mark complained. "Of course, I pulled more small pranks before Jaime got there."

The whole family spent the next few hours in the pool or spa, which is where Dan and Emma found them when they arrived, this was the first time Emma had seen her daughter since being told she was going to be a Grandma. She had seen her daughter the night they went to buy the chair Hermione charmed for the Hogwarts stairs Hermione got out of the pool to meet her, Emma took her in her arms. "Come here my girl." She whispered to Mione. As she hugged her daughter, she smiled "I can't believe you're pregnant. I can't believe I'm going to be a Grandmum soon."

Hermione chuckled as she pulled back and sat in a lounge chair. "I know. It's weird thinking of my being a mum. When I was little, I never thought I'd be so young when this happened."

"Yeah. You told me you wouldn't have kids until you were old, like 30, so you could have a career first." Emma laughed as Hermione grinned.

"Well, I can do both at the same time."

"That's my girl." Emma grinned. She looked up as Jaime and Mark sat next to them. "So, you're the young man Sirius is so scared of?" she asked, looking up at him.

"Scared of me? That's ridiculous." Mark laughed. "Why would he be scared?"

"Maybe because he's been dreading this since he found out about you!" Dan yelled from the side of the pool as he grinned evilly.

"He doesn't have anything to worry about from me as long as he treats my baby sister well." He gave a little faux growl.

At this, Dan laughed as he commented, "It's nice having someone else to tease Sirius with."

Sirius got out of the pool at this point and walked up to a fully clothed Dan as he transformed into Padfoot. He then shook his wet coat out all over Dan. He then transformed back and laughed as Dan shrieked.

"Not nice Sirius." He yelled through his laughter as he took his daughters towel to dry off.

"You get him Sirius." Hermione encouraged through her own laughter as she got up to give Sirius a hug.

**HP**

That evening, they made their own pizzas and watched Return of the Jedi. They spent the evening getting to know Mark. They found that, like Jaime, he seemed as comfortable in the muggle, or non-maj, world as he was in the magical world. Sirius was fascinated by this.

"So, you're telling me that you go to muggle places all the time?"

"Yeah. I can't wait to take my kids to Disneyland." He grinned at Jaime.

"You have to wait till she's four _and I have to come with you_." Jaime growled as Mark laughed.

"I know. I know." Then he looked at Sirius. "Jame and I decided when we were little that each one of our kids would go to Disneyland at 4 and that it would be a trip between her and I with the kid. Now that I've had Jordan, she's counting the days until we can take her."

"Why 4?" Hermione asked.

"Before 4 it's too hard with naps and diaper changes and such." Jaime explained.

"If you ever get to California, we can make a day trip of it." Mark suggested.

"Sounds like fun." Harry grinned.

"We keep hearing from Jaime how muggles and magicals are so intertwined but that doesn't seem to be the case from your history." Nev asked.

"Well, it depends on where you live. If you live on either coast, as we do, you are generally a little more liberal than in the Mid-West. In California, where all the strange people live, you tend to blend in with no-maj society."

"We tend to have the same kind of entertainment as no-maj's. For instance, my Dad is a huge American Football fan and goes to the 49ers games all the time." Jaime added.

"Let's put it this way, my wife Sarah's best friend is a no-maj. They met in college. However, Ellie has no idea my wife's a witch." Mark finished.

**HP**

On Sunday, Hermione woke up with cramps. She groaned as she got up.

"Are you okay, love?" Harry asked as he got dressed for the day. "You don't look so good." He came over and sat next to Mione on the bed and took her hands. "What's going on?"

"I'm just cramping up a bit." She responded with what he knew to be her fake smile.

"Mione, talk to me. Are you okay?" Harry's demeanor became more serious. "You really don't look good."

"That's just what a woman wants to hear." She smirked at her fiancé's hangdog expression.

"I'm worried. So sue me." To Hermione he looked even more worried.

"Harry, I'm fine." She said in a more confident voice. "Take Teddy and do breakfast. I'll be down in a little while."

"You sure?" He asked as he got up.

"Yes. I'm fine." She smiled more convincingly at him as he left. She got up very slowly. As she got dressed, she took several breaks because she was cramping pretty badly.

As she was walking downstairs, she ran into Luna. "Luna, can I talk to you in the study?"

"Of course." Luna frowned as she followed Mione into the study. "What's up?" She asked as Mione sat down on a sofa.

"I'm cramping a lot. It started as soon as I woke up and hasn't seemed to let up." Hermione began to cry softly. "I think I'm losing the babies."

Luna came over and put her arm around her friend. "Okay. We have options. We can give it a little more time to settle and hope it goes away or we can go to Pomfrey and see if she can get help. I'm assuming Mungo's is out because you want discretion not Skeeter, yeah?"

"Yeah. Definitely not Mungo's." She tried to smile but it came out as a grimace because she suddenly groaned and doubled over with a cramp.

"Okay." Luna's voice turned from its normal dreamy-state to cold determination so fast Hermione looked up in alarm at her. She got up, grabbed Mione's arm as she helped her up. "We're going to Pomfrey now. I'll come back and get Harry afterwards."

"Don't let anyone else know okay?" she asked as she leaned on her friend to help her get through the cramps as they went to the entryway.

"Sure you don't want Emma or Sirius?" Luna looked concerned.

"I want Harry, you and Nev until I know what's going on."

"Okay." She picked up floo powder, called out "Hogwarts Hospital Wing" and floo'd out.

When they fell out, Poppy was to them straight away. "What is going on?" she asked as Luna helped Hermione to a bed.

"I think I'm miscarrying. I'm cramping an awful lot." Hermione said between cramps.

"Mione, I'm going to go get Harry and Nev, alright?" Luna asked in her normal, soft voice. She got a nod in return. "I'll be back."

**HP**

Luna arrived back at the Madhouse a few minutes later and walked into the kitchen as everyone was eating breakfast. They looked up as she came in. "Where's Mione?" Harry asked.

"Can you and Nev come into the study?" She answered a question with a question.

"Sure." He and Nev got up and followed her to the study. As they left, Sirius began to follow.

"It's okay Sirius, I just need to talk to these guys." Luna smiled, knowing he was now worried about Mione as well. He gave her a dirty look that said he didn't like being kept in the dark as he sat back down.

When they closed the study door and had put up silencing charms, Harry turned on Luna, now especially worried. "Where's my wife?" He demanded.

"She's in the Hospital Wing." Luna put a hand on his arm. "By the way, she not your wife yet."

He ignored Luna's comment. He had more important things to think about. "What happened? Why's she there? What's wrong?" He fired off.

"She's cramping. She doesn't want to make a big deal so she's asked for you, Nev and me to come back without everyone worrying." Luna replied. Then she looked directly into Harry's eyes. "I think she might be losing the babies."

Harry's legs went out from beneath him. Nev reached out to grab him, but he missed. "Love, can you go talk to Sirius while I take care of Harry?" he asked.

Luna nodded as she left. "I think the four of us are going back to school. Hermione's tired and the rest of us have plans to make. Okay?" she told the room.

"Are you sure everything's okay?" Dan asked.

"Yes. Tiredness is a symptom of early pregnancy, Dan." She smiled as she heard the whoosh of the fireplace.

"I know but I'm her dad and I'm worried." He replied grimly.

"I'll have her call you soon, yeah?" Luna smiled at the concern written on all the males' faces.

"Okay. Have a good week Luna." He smiled back as she left.

**HP**

When she got back to the hospital wing, Nev was sitting outside the room that clearly held their friends, Poppy and a healer they didn't recognise. He got up as he saw her striding towards him.

"What's going on?" Luna asked

"They're checking her out right now. Apparently, her healer from Mungo's is here." He replied as he began walking the ward.

**HP**

Over the next 2 hours, Luna knew the time because she had been checking the clock every five minutes, she and Neville rotated between walking the ward and staring off into space thinking the worst had happened. Meanwhile, people came and went from the room Mione was in.

Eventually, Nev got frustrated. "I need to concentrate on something." He said. "I'm going to go get our stuff from the house so I can work on my lesson plans and grade. Want me to pick your stuff up too?" Luna just nodded as she sat still in her chair, silent tears streaming down her face. "Luna, everything will be all right." He came down to her level and took her hands in his. "She's not your mum. She's not going to die on us. There's no reason she won't survive this love."

"I know that up here." She smiled, tapping her temple. "But in here" She put her hand over her heart. "I'm worried sick." She took and let out a deep breath. "Go get our stuff from the house love."

"I can wait." Nev replied softly, putting his forehead on hers.

"No. Go. I'll be here." She said resolutely.

"Okay." He squeezed her hand. "I'll be back soon love." He gave her a kiss as he left.

**HP**

It was while Nev was gone that Harry came out. Luna took one look at him and jumped up. He was ghostly white, his eyes a dull green and his hair looked like a rat had taken up residence.

"Harry! What's going on? Is Hermione okay? What about the babies? Can I see her?"

Harry gave her a half-hearted smile as he sat in a chair next to her. "Well, she almost miscarried all the babies. According to Healer Axel, you getting her here saved two of the babies. Only one died. He said if you'd waited much longer, we would've lost all three."

At that, Luna sighed as she fell back into her chair. "Oh my. I actually suggested waiting. I'm glad we didn't."

"So am I. Anyway, she and the babies will be fine. They had to clean her out a bit so they could give the alive babies more room to grow in. That's what took so long. They put her to sleep and did a weird half-muggle/half-magic procedure on her. Now she's down for the count."

Luna had taken Harry's hand halfway through his explanation. "Can I go see her?"

He tried to smile at Luna. "Have I ever told you how lucky we are to have you as a friend?"

"You just did." She smiled.

Harry reached over and hugged her. "Go on in. I'll wait here."

"Thanks Harry." She skipped to the entrance of Mione's room.

**HP**

Nev came back a little while later to Harry asleep in his seat. _Gods, he must be exhausted. I'll let him sleep_, Nev thought as he transfigured a bed into a table and organised everyone's paperwork. He had decided to bring Harry and Hermione's stuff as well as their own so they had everything they needed.

"Hey Nev." Harry croaked as he sat up.

"Hey Harry. Mione okay?"

"Yeah. We lost one of the babies." Harry replied dully. He looked at Neville with such grief in his eyes that Neville blanched.

"Oh Merlin." Nev whispered.

"Yeah. I'm not exactly sure how I feel yet. I mean, on one hand we lost a baby. On the other hand, we were able to save two. And Mione's alive." He looked at Nev. "I'm just so glad of that. I don't know what I'd do if I lost her. How the hell would I survive without her?"

"Let's hope we never have to find out." Nev half-smiled. "I don't want to even think of losing Luna."


	35. Chapter 35

**A/N This chapter is meant to give an idea of how The Family deals with this tragedy. It actually doesn't have much HHr interactions in it at all.****Ch. 35**

**A/N2 Sorry this is so late. Things have been really crazy between my beta (Karatekid-Ninja) and 've both been reall busy with real life lately. I'm just now sitting down to do more writing tonight. Anyway, I hope to get back on some schedule. Maybe not every Sunday but bi-monthly? That's my hope. Hope you enjoy. R & R please.**

**Sunday 22 November 1998**

Sunday evening, the family came back to the Marauder's Playhouse (the

Head's flat) to just Luna and Nev in the game room. As everyone came in, Nev got up. "Family meeting in 10?" he asked.

"Sure, let us put our stuff away and we'll be back. I assume this has to do with Mione?" Sirius asked.

Nev nodded.

When everyone gathered a few minutes later, Neville sat up straighter. "Mione's okay. Harry and her lost one of the babies today."

"Oh Merlin." Gasped Jaime and Dora.

"Fuck." Was Mark

"Fucking hell!" was Sirius' response as he got up and began leaving the room.

"Sirius! Wait!" Nev yelled.

Sirius turned around slowly. "What is it? Harry needs me!"

"Not right now Pads." Luna came up to him gently. "He's asleep. Sit down please." She urged as she pulled him over to Jaime who in turn pulled him down to her.

"As I was saying," Nev emphasised. "They lost one of the babies but two survived."

"They made room for the two to grow in utero." Luna added. "Hermione's been asleep off and on since the surgery. Someone has been with her since it happened. I stayed with her, Nev did too but Harry wouldn't leave to eat so Nev and I got him food this evening."

"Poppy put a sleeping draught in his pumpkin juice about an hour ago." Nev grinned. "Apparently, she's used to that. Anyway, she said we could bring them both breakfast tomorrow. She said to bring Mione's chair and she could come back here tomorrow."

"What'd Poppy say about when she could go back to classes?" Dora asked.

"Physically she'll be fine by Wednesday but she doesn't want Mione to teach until we get back from Yule." Luna repeated Poppy's instructions.

Dora took hold of that and began planning. "Jaime, can you take her class load for her?"

"Mark, can you use a working holiday?" Jaime asked.

"What're you thinking, sis?" He looked skeptically at his little sister.

Sirius stood up suddenly. "While you are going through Hermione's life changing everything, I need a bloody break." He went swiftly to the door and slammed it on his way out.

"Will he be alright?" Jaime asked.

"Yeah." Dora answered. "He just needs to let off some steam. He's a Black, our tempers are bad but he'll calm down and come back soon."

**HP**

As Sirius left the game room, he began walking outside the castle. All he could think about was that this was another loss for his godson that he couldn't protect him from.

He left Pettigrew to be Secretkeeper thereby leaving Harry parentless. He went to Azkaban instead of raising Harry himself, thus leaving him to the _tender mercies_ of the Dursleys. He wasn't there to protect him from Quirrell, Lockhart, or Voldemort. And now this. It seemed like every time his boy had something good in his life it was taken from him.

When he finally came out of this train of thought, he realised he was at the castle gates. He took a deep breath as he understood that he had subconsciously come out here because Dan and Emma needed to know.

He apparated to their front door.

**HP**

As Sirius was out contemplating why his godson had to have such a rough life, the rest of the family was trying to figure out how to give the young couple time to heal.

"Mark, could you call Sarah and ask her to take a working vacation?" Jaime asked. When she got a bunch of strange looks from the Family, she added. "Sarah is a historian. She hasn't taught since she married Mark but I'm positive she could take Hermione's classes."

"Oh, okay." Dora replied as she held her son. "I love you little monster." She muttered to Teddy.

"Sure." Mark went to make the call.

"I'm thinking that Mark could take over Harry's classes. He teaches Transfiguration normally but can teach Defence too." Jaime supplied.

"I don't know if Harry will want to stop teaching but we might want to at least give him this week off." Nev said. "I'm worried because he has a tendency to brood and we need to keep him from doing that at all costs."

"What do you mean by 'brood'?"

"He refuses to talk. He blames himself. That sort of rubbish." Nev snorted. Then, almost viciously, he growled. "There's no way he's just sitting in a window seat staring and brooding. Not when I'm bloody around!"

"Angry much?" Dora smirked.

"Mione and Weasley let him brood too much the last few years. I always wanted to talk him out of it but left that up to Weasley, who never did it. That is not happening on my watch." He took a deep breath as Luna put her arms around him from behind.

"Calm down, my love." She whispered.

Jaime turned to Dobby. "If Sarah is able to come, she'll bring Jordan too." She got a big grin on her face. "Could you take care of her as well as Teddy?"

"Of course Jaime. How old is she?" Dobby grinned excitedly.

"Four months. July 16th is her birthday." As everyone began giggling, she asked. "What?"

"That day we were having Teddy's month 3 birthday party." Luna supplied. Mark strode into the room then and sat with his sister.

"Sarah will be here Tuesday. She's calling about a portkey for her and Jordan." Then he turned to Dobby.

"Don't worry sir. I'll gladly take care of Master Dogfather's Jaime's niece." Dobby interrupted.

"Dora, you and I should fill the Headmistress in now."

"Sure. Let me get the carrier." She put Teddy on the floor and went to her flat.

**HP**

After telling the Grangers about the miscarriage, after Dan and Emma let their emotions out a bit, Emma went upstairs. Dan looked at Sirius and said "You know there was nothing you could do, yeah?"

"What do you mean?" Sirius asked.

"Don't give me that Sirius. I know you better than that. You're blaming yourself for Harry having to deal with this." Dan snorted. "This. Is. Not. Your. Fault."

"So why does it feel like it is?" Sirius asked. His grey eyes pleading with his friend.

"Because for all intents and purposes, that boy is your son. You would do anything to stop the pain he's going through and you're thinking that maybe if you'd raised him, he wouldn't be going through this now. Your guilt is taking over." Dan replied.

"How do you know this?" Sirius quirked an eyebrow at him.

"Because that's my inclination too." Dan sighed. "I'm not sure even if Hermione knows this but Emma went through two miscarriages before her birth. Why do you think Emma reacted so much when you told us? She doesn't want her little girl to face this."

"Oh. That makes more sense."

Dan nodded. He then said, a little choked up. "Hell, I don't want my baby to go through this."

Just then Emma came downstairs with a carryall. "We're ready. Dan, I packed enough clothes for two weeks."

Dan got up to meet his wife. He could see the stress in her eyes. He also knew that his strong, beautiful wife needed to be with her daughter, so he didn't object.

He looked over at Sirius. "Guess we're staying with you for a while."

Sirius let out the first laugh since he'd been given the news. "Guess you are. The kids have an extra bedroom you can sleep in."

**HP**

When Dora and Jaime had told Minerva what happened and the plans they'd made in the interim, Minerva was surprised.

"Wow. You guys made all these plans without me. Maybe the school doesn't need a Headmistress after all." She joked as Dora sat there looking like Minerva had grown two heads. "Dora, close your mouth."

"From what I've learned, Minnie" Jaime laughed at the severe look on her face. "Sorry, Sirius calls you that all the time, _Minerva_." She emphasised the name as Minerva hissed.

"I'm well aware. He's been doing it since he was 11." She muttered.

"Anyway, from what I've learned, Dora's shock is because she's not used to you joking, at least here at school." Jaime laughed at Dora's simple nod.

After smothering a smile, Minerva said in her teacher voice. "Well, it looks as though you have everything set." She took a deep breath. "I normally don't get into my teachers' personal lives as a rule. However, there is an issue I'd like to talk to you about concerning 'that blasted family of Professors, do they tell each other everything?' as the students call you." At this all three laughed. "Anyway, I know that Sirius' quarters are a little far from the rest of yours. Would you like the elves to rearrange your rooms so you all live in one space. They could make it however large you want. I'm thinking he may want to be closer to Harry than he is."

"Why would you do this?" Dora asked.

"Simple." Minera smiled. "This school has had a hard time keeping good professors, especially in that blasted Defence class. If I want to keep Harry and Hermione next year, I want to make sure everyone likes it. I don't want one of you deciding to go back to Ilvermorny and take half my staff with you." She looked directly at Jaime with a raised eyebrow.

Jaime laughed "Point taken, Minerva."

"Sounds great. I'll talk to Dobby and he can work with the elves here to make it work." Dora grinned down at her sleeping son. "I'd better take this one to bed. I didn't want to do his nighttime routine tonight because that usually includes Harry and he'd be upset if Harry weren't there. Better to just let him fall asleep on his own tonight."

"Yeah. We may have to take over some things for Harry." Jaime said as they walked to the door. "See you later Minerva." They both waved at the Headmistress as they left. Once on their way back to the flat, Jaime suggested "I'll be there to cook breakfast tomorrow."

**HP**

When they got back to the Heads' Flat, Dora went to put Teddy to bed and Jaime filled Sirius, Dan and Emma in on what Minerva had said, especially about the residential arrangements.

"Sounds like Minnie's afraid we'll move to the States." Sirius laughed. "I know for a fact Jaime will never move back."

"Yeah. I like the field trips too much." She laughed. Then she became more serious. "Besides this is your home and I love you." She leant over and kissed him softly.

"As I love you." He put his forehead to hers.

**Monday 23 November 1998**

Nev and Luna woke up earlier than usual Monday morning. Nev quickly got dressed and put the stuff he'd need for the morning in his pack. He then went to Dora's flat and just stood there listening.

A few minutes later, he heard Teddy making noise, so he went into Teddy's room and picked him up. "Sorry bud. Harry's not here today. He's taking care of Aunt Mione but I'm here, yeah?"

Teddy just giggled and kicked his feet as Nev changed him. "Merlin you are wiggly today. I remember when you would stay still for nappy changes." At that, Teddy tried to turn over. "Uh-uh. No. You stay right there." Nev ordered playfully as he got the clean nappy on him. He then took the boy to the booster seat and began feeding him cereal.

Just as he was getting started, Dora came in. Neville looked up with such gratitude Dora started laughing. "My boy a little too much for you?"

Nev grinned sardonically. "Just a little." He replied as he let Dora feed the little man.

Jaime came in and started breakfast. Soon everyone was up and eating. "I put together 2 plates that need to go to Harry and Mione."

"I think Dan, Emma and I should go get them this morning." Sirius said. "I don't want Mione overwhelmed. You guys do what you need to. We'll take care of the kids."

"We'll make sure Mione has all the notes she could want. In fact, I'll bring my new recorder and record the lesson for her." Luna rushed off to get the micro-recorder she'd runed.

"If you can give Mitzy and me about two hours, we can have the new flat arranged." Dobby put in.

"Do you ever sleep?" Mark asked.

Dobby shook his head. "We elveses do not need much sleep. That's why we do the students' laundry at night."

Mark just shook his head with a smile. "Don't try to understand Dobby." Sirius said as he finished eating. "We just trust he'll get it done and he does. He hasn't let us down yet." Dobby grinned at the compliment.

**HP**

A little while later, Sirius, Dan and Emma opened the door to the room Mione and Harry were in. They were laying in a widened bed with Hermione's head on Harry's chest, both fast asleep.

Sirius nudged Harry with his hand to try waking him but he didn't budge. Sirius did it again and Harry turned toward Sirius, batting his hand away. "C'mon son. You need to wake up." Sirius whispered as Harry opened his eyes groggily.

"G'way."

Sirius smiled at Dan. "James used to do the same thing. Of course, back then I'd shoot water at him." Sirius sighed as he nudged Harry more. "Wake up Harry." He whispered. "I really don't want to wake Mione, so get up before the water flows."

Harry opened his eyes again and rubbed them. "Fine." He scooted away from Hermione and got to his feet. "Can I at least get dressed first?" He asked grumpily.

"Sure. We'll wait outside." Sirius grinned as the three left the room. Sirius transfigured a bedside table into a kitchen table and set Harry's food out. Soon Harry came out dressed in the clothes they'd left for him.

"Good!" He half-heartedly smiled as he sat down and started to eat.

"Jaime made that this morning." Sirius smiled.

"We should have her cook more. She's good." Harry mumbled through his inhalation.

"How are you doing, kiddo?" Sirius asked.

"Not quite sure yet, to be honest. I swear, I should never eat anything here. Who knows what it's laced with?" He scowled. "I spent most of yesterday at Mione's side but Poppy put me to sleep around seven, so I really haven't had time to process." He sighed. "The only thing I'm sure of is that I couldn't live if anything had happened to Mione." He looked through the open door to see she was still asleep.

"How is Hermione handling it?" Her dad asked.

"They kept her pretty doped up, so I don't think she's had time to process either. Where is everyone?" He asked.

"They're all in classes." Poppy came by then.

"It's time to wake Ms. Granger. You should be with her when she does." Poppy looked at Harry. He had finished breakfast and got up with a nod to follow Poppy.

**HP**

When Poppy turned around after closing the door, she saw Harry on the bed holding Hermione in his arms. As she spelled the potion in Hermione's system, she said, "Healer Axel should be here shortly and he'll want to talk to you both about what to expect in the next few weeks. For now, just wait until she wakes up. I'll be back." She smiled warmly at Harry.

Harry looked at his fiancée and saw her begin to open her eyes. What he saw was her beautiful chocolate brown eyes go from having their usual sparkle for life to a lifeless brown.

"Did we lose them all?" She asked meekly.

"No. Just one, my love." He began petting her hair.

"Good." She whispered. "I couldn't have handled losing them all." She took a deep breath and winced. "Merlin, I hurt."

"I bet. They had to go in and clean out the baby so the other two had more room. Poppy said limited activity until Wednesday."

There was a knock on the door. "Come in." Harry said loudly.

Emma came in. "Healer Axel is here, loves. Can he come in?"

"Yeah. If you're here that means Dad's here too, yeah?" Emma laughed and nodded. "Have him and Sirius come in too. Cause where Dad is, Sirius'll be there to. I don't want to repeat things."

"Okay dear." She let everyone in.

Healer Axel came in and sat on the stool as everyone found a seat. "How're you doing Hermione?" Axel asked.

"Fine."

"I can't help if you don't tell me the truth." He scolded gently.

"Fine. I hurt like hell. My insides feel like they've been stretched and contorted like no tomorrow." Her voice began rising. "I can't help thinking that I should've done something to save my baby. I can't believe that with all we've been through, this is making me feel so guilty. Is that what you want to hear?" By this time, she was screaming into Harry's chest as she cried.

"If that's how you feel, that's what I want to hear." Axel smiled softly as she looked up at him. "It's okay, even natural, to feel this way. Don't let it fester-either of you." He looked at Harry. "You need to be a team now more than ever. Along with your family." All five nodded.

"I'm taking two weeks off at least." Emma said. "I will be here no matter what. Daddy will be too."

"So will the rest of us." Sirius took Hermione's hand. "You are a part of us. We will be here no matter if you push us away or not. We love you both."

"What about your practice?" Ever the logical Hermione asked.

"We have taken care of that. No need to worry, little sweetheart." Dan grabbed her other hand.

"As for taking care of yourself, you are not to leave that seat or bed unless you need the loo. At least until week twelve." Axel said.

"That's 12 December." Hermione muttered as the family laughed at her immediate recitation.

"Then we'll see how you're doing. I'll be here every other day at half seven in the morning. I'll come to your rooms." Then his countenance became quite serious. "You cannot teach until after Yule. You ARE NOT allowed in a classroom until next Monday. You are to rest this week. Absolutely no stress, yeah? Your babies need to get used to the new space they have. You are to take this potion every day. It will help speed up the developmental process." He handed her a bottle. When he saw the shocked look on her face, he softened his tone a bit. "Twelve weeks is not too long. It's to make sure the twins are safe." She nodded. "Okay, I'll see you Wednesday." He smiled at both of them. "Take care of her Harry."

"We will." Everyone responded as one as he laughed and walked out of the room.

"Let me help you into your chair." Harry said as he did so. "Jaime made some great breakfast and Sirius didn't eat it before it got here, so it's waiting for you, love."

"Sure." She half-smiled as she moved her chair to the table where she sat eating. "He said no classes at all this week yeah?"

"Yep." Sirius smiled. "But Luna's recording all your classes."

"What about my teaching?" She asked.

"Jaime's sister-in-law is coming tomorrow. She's a history teacher, or was, I understand." Sirius explained to them all the changes that were happening as Hermione ate slowly.

"Well, it looks like we'll be living as one happy family again, at least minus one." She closed her eyes as she fought the pain back.

"Honey, let's get you dressed." Emma suggested softly as she got up from the table.

"Fine." Hermione moved her chair towards the room where she lost the baby.

**HP**

About an hour later, the five of them decided to go back to their rooms. They opened the door and found a replica of the downstairs at the Madhouse, except that the sitting room off the left of the entry hall was now the game room and there was no drawing room next to it. The study was still behind the game room with the kitchen to the right of the entryway which opened up to a sun room with a small barbeque and table. There were much more ornate stairs going to the first floor.

They went up and found replicas of all the bedrooms, including Dora and Teddy's suite. When they went back into the kitchen, the five of them sat at the table and had hot cocoa served by Dobby and Mitzy.

Sirius looked at the elves. "How did you do this in two hours? It's nearly an exact duplicate of home."

"Lots of hands make fast work." Dobby smiled. "Miss Mione, I brought that teddy bear that was in the Grangy's house that you like so much. The black and red one."

At that Hermione perked up. "You did?"

"I thoughts you might want it."

"Thank you, Dobby. You always know what I need." She smiled a genuine smile at the elf. As she moved to get more comfortable in her chair, she winced.

"Do you need some pain potion?" Harry asked as he got up to get it. Hermione put her hand on his.

"No. I need to rest like Healer Axel said." She looked at Sirius, Dan, Emma and Harry in turn. "Thank you for being there for me but I'd really like to go up to bed by myself." Harry got up to help her upstairs as she waved him away. "I'm not an invalid, Harry. I can take care of myself." She said harshly as she sped away. He moved their cups to the sink and set them washing.

"Emma, what'd she say while she was changing?" Harry asked as he sat down again.

"Not much. She just cried. How are you Harry?"

"Fine. I'm sad of course but I'm more worried about Mione's welfare than anything else now." He sighed looking at his watch. "10.00. We lost the baby about 24 hours ago."

"Harry, why don't you and I go for a ride?" Sirius suggested.

"Don't you have classes?"

"Not till after lunch. And Minerva says if she sees any of you at lunch today, she'll send you here."

"Okay, let me get my broom." Then he looked at Emma. "Call me if she wakes up, yeah." Emma nodded.

**HP**

A few minutes later, Sirius and Harry were on their way out of the castle. "So, I guess everyone knows we lost a baby, yeah." Harry grumbled.

"The only ones that have been told are The Family and Minnie. According to Jaime, she's the one that suggested the changes to the flat."

"Why?" He looked genuinely curious, which Sirius took as a good sign.

"Because she said that she wanted to make us want to stay." Sirius grinned.

"Why would we leave?" He was now a little confused.

"She doesn't want Jaime to take us all back to the States." They both laughed.

"She loves the history here too much. She'll never leave." Harry shook his head as he got on his broom. "I better make sure I'm ready to teach this afternoon."

He said as he thought about what lessons he had to do this week. The problem was that for the first time since beginning to teach, he really didn't want to. No matter how much he tried to look past losing the baby, he couldn't stop thinking of it.

"You're not teaching until after Yule." Sirius replied. "Mark is taking over your classes and his wife Sarah is taking up Mione's. She'll be here Tuesday. Your job is to heal and help Mione heal. Now. Race you to the other side." He yelled as he took off with Harry yelling and laughing as he followed his godfather.

**HP**

When Harry and Sirius ended up back in the castle, it was already half 11. Both men were in a much better mood.

"It amazes me how riding a broom can make the two of them feel better." Emma said to Dromeda as they came through the entryway. "We're in here boys." She raised her voice a bit because they were in the game room, after all.

"Hey Drom." Sirius grinned as he poked his head in. "We gotta shower. We'll be down in a few."

"My name is not Drom." Andromeda said as Sirius laughed as he walked away. "I have a perfectly good nickname, why does he insist on being difficult?" She looked at Emma.

"Because he's Sirius?" They both laughed as Teddy grinned at his Grandmum from the floor. He was sitting on all fours and rocking. "He's gonna crawl any minute now." Emma and Dromeda grinned at each other.

"Back to work, not playing with my grandson. I think we've got the first years covered." Dromeda sighed. "Only question I have is how much of this can you help me teach?"

Emma got more serious. "Dan and I've been talking and we're thinking of closing the practice one day a week. We've got a really good nest egg, paid off our student loans and we've paid off the house. So, we're fairly comfortable now. We were thinking that we might take that one day a week and help up here."

"That would be wonderful." Dromeda smiled. "Maybe we could take the kids on a field trip of some kind. Like the cinema."

"Sounds like fun." Emma grinned.

"Hey Mum, Dromeda." Hermione greeted as she motored into the game room.

Emma noticed that she was still in her flannel pajamas. _Oh no! She hasn't even gotten out of her pajamas yet? She never does that unless she's really depressed._ Emma thought dismally.


	36. Chapter 36

**Ch. 36**

**Monday 23 November 1998**

As Hermione came into the room, both women looked a little surprised. "How're you feeling, dear?" Dromeda asked.

"I hurt a lot." She grimaced as she tried to move around in her chair. "But otherwise I'm fine." She reached down to pick up Teddy. "Hi little man." She smiled as Teddy reached for her hair as he changed to match hers. "You are so adorable." She kissed him repeatedly. "I love you so much little man." She told him in between sobs. "I just wish you were going to have three little cousins to play with instead of two."

Dobby popped in and looked at Hermione. "Miss Mione, lunch is ready if you want it. Or I can bring it in here for you?" He asked softly.

Hermione sniffled as she wiped her face and gave Dobby a half-hearted smile. "No Dobby. I'll eat with everyone else." Then she looked at him with her sad eyes and said. "Thanks for the thought Dobby."

"You're welcome. If you need anything, just call and I'll be there." He put his hand on her thigh comfortingly. She nodded as she levitated herself into the kitchen.

When she was next to Harry, she let the legs of the chair down. "As much as I like this chair, I can't stand sitting in one place without the legs down. It feels unnatural." She commented to Harry.

"I find the whole concept of levitating yourself around the castle weird." Harry snorted as the rest of The Family joined them. He took Hermione's hand and raised it to his lips. "I love you Mione." She just nodded.

As everyone began eating in an awkward silence, Luna asked. "How're you feeling Mione?"

"Fine." She mumbled noncommittally.

Luna felt she needed to get Hermione to talk, she didn't want Mione to close off, so she took another direction. "I've got all of this mornings classes on tape for you."

"Thanks." Hermione just kept eating. Luna sighed, realising Hermione wasn't going to talk to her, at least here.

"My wife is coming tomorrow morning to take over your classes at least until after Yule." Mark tried to engage her.

"Good."

"Is she a teacher?" Harry asked.

"Yes. Before the baby, she taught History at the same school I teach Transfiguration at. However, this week I'll be taking over your defence classes Harry."

"Sure. I'll get you all our lesson plans. Feel free to use the study here or my office." He smiled. "I think the kids will get a lot out of a new teacher."

"Are you okay, Hermione?" Nev asked. The entire time the family was talking, he was watching Hermione, he could see her close down with a blank expression on her face, it was the same expression she got on her face when she got really stressed but didn't want anyone to notice.

"Fine." Hermione replied as she picked up her wand and zoomed out the door. "I'm going to bed."

When they heard Hermione close the door, Sirius burst out with, "Well, who the hell was that? That wasn't Hermione."

"Give her a few days. She'll start talking again but it'll take her a little while to get there." Dan replied, having some experience watching Emma go through this. "She's not going to be the same girl she was but it'll get better with time."

"She barely ate." Harry was worried. "She has to keep eating for the twins' growth."

"She will." Mark chuckled. "Babies take what they need. Somehow through the most horrible morning sickness, Jordan and Sarah both survived."

"Well, we ought to get to classes." Sirius sighed looking at the clock as he got up.

"I'm going up to Mione." Harry said as he picked Teddy up from Dora. "Maybe Ted can help me." He took Teddy up to be changed as everyone left the table.

**HP**

When Harry came upstairs and laid Teddy in Mione's arms, she immediately curled into him. Harry laid down next to them and took them both in his arms.

"I love you Mione." He whispered.

"Why? I let one of them die." She whispered right back.

"You didn't _let_ the baby die. There wasn't enough room for all three, I imagine." He replied. "Could you imagine three tiny people in your itty, bitty belly?" He put his hand on her tummy. "You weren't made for carrying three, love and the babies knew that. I can just see them drawing lots to see who has to vacate the premises."

She gave a low chuckle at that as she gave first Teddy, then her Harry a kiss. Teddy was almost asleep, so he just sighed contentedly as Harry kissed her back. They then fell into a deep sleep.

When Sirius came up after school to check on them, they were asleep with Hermione and Teddy curled up in Harry's arms. He sighed, glad to see them together.

**HP**

That evening when Harry and Hermione came down after their nap, Dora held out her hands for her son. "I need to feed." Dora groaned.

"Why?" Hermione asked.

"It can hurt if you don't either feed or pump at regular intervals." Emma smiled.

"And right now, I'm really hurting!"

"I don't need to hear that about my cousin, yeah?" Sirius groaned.

"Then you should find a cousin that cares." Dora sighed as Teddy latched on.

"I don't need to hear about that part of your life. I remember you as a 4-year-old. This is gross."

"Then go somewhere else." Jaime laughed. "Sarah's gonna be here tomorrow with Jordan so we'll have more of that around here soon."

"Then you'll have the twins too." Emma looked at Hermione.

"Yeah, if I don't kill them first." Mione muttered under her breath.

They had settled in the game room and Sirius and Harry were playing pool when he heard her say that. He put his cue down and turned to her and said, "That will not happen, kitten." He bent down to her. "This wasn't your fault. Merlin, Fate, Destiny might be at fault but you are not."

She tried to smile at him. "Okay Uncle Sirius." she agreed, not that anyone believed that she thought that.

**Friday 27 November**

On Tuesday, Sarah Richardson arrived with their daughter, it took the morning but eventually Mione went over her classroom schedule, for the rest of her bedrest. Slowly they made their way to the classroom and Hermione showed Sarah around, she was very specific about how and where she kept everything.

Sarah took her plans and suggested a few adjustments to them, it was very interesting for Hermione to hand over something that had become a vital part of her life. She was not one to like giving up control normally, so this was a very difficult thing for her, especially on top of feeling guilty about losing the baby.

Over the next few days, everyone noticed that no matter how they tried to bring Hermione into family conversations, she kept quiet and distant. Sirius and Harry had several conversations about how to help her but they were at a loss. The only person Hermione would have anything to do with was Teddy, she had taken to being responsible for him during Dora's lessons instead of Andi. She got so attached to him that on Wednesday night, she fell asleep cuddled up with Teddy in bed.

**HP**

Finally, on Friday, when everyone else was at lunch, Jaime came back to the Playhouse for lunch. It was just her, Hermione, Dan and Emma at the table and still it was a very quiet lunch.

After lunch, however, Jaime followed Hermione to the study where Hermione was going through classwork that she had missed this week. When Jaime followed her in, she rolled her eyes. "What's wrong Jaime?" She asked rather sharply, shuffling her work wishing Jaime would just leave her alone.

"I just wanted to talk about how you're doing. As far as we can tell, you haven't talked at all about what happened and the family is worried." She responded quietly.

Mione snorted. "You mean Harry and Sirius are worried and they talked you into talking to me yeah?"

"No. I mean that I've had a few friends who've gone through this and I've seen what not talking does." She looked sternly over at Mione. "If you don't want to talk to me that's fine, however your mum's been through this as well, talk to her if you wont talk to me." She sighed. "I'm worried about you, sweets. Please talk to someone, it'll eat you up inside if you don't. I thought you might like to talk to an impartial party, rather than someone who has known you for as long as the rest of the family." She sighed as she got up, feeling dejected that she couldn't help. "That's all I came here to say."

As she was leaving, Hermione grabbed her arm and Jaime looked down. "Thanks for caring, Jaime."

"Your welcome, sweets." She smiled.

When Jaime left, Hermione sat there thinking about the baby and how she felt about losing it. She decided Jaime was right, she needed to talk to someone who had been through this before and went in search of her mum.

"Hi, love." Emma greeted Hermione as she came into the kitchen. "Want some tea?" She asked as the kettle whined.

"Sure Mum." She sat down at the island as Emma went about making tea, Hermione looked at her mum critically. Her mum had always been the consummate business woman. However, when Hermione was little, she remembered how she loved Hermione and would play dolls or tea with her. She knew that her parents had a hard time having her but now wondered why they didn't try again. "Mum, why don't I have any younger siblings?"

Emma sighed as she put Hermione's cup in front of her. "We lost two babies before we had you. You know that, yes?" At Hermione's nod, she continued. "I was convinced that I was cursed, that I'd never have kids. Then you came along and your dad and I were so happy, we couldn't believe it." She smiled at her little miracle all grown up. "And we couldn't have been prouder, we decided that one was enough for us." She paused a moment. "When you were around five, we got pregnant again, it was a complete accident, but we were just as pleased with that pregnancy as we were with you. As the weeks went past we sighed in relief at 12 weeks it felt like a weight was starting to lift from my shoulders. A few days later, I began cramping… we lost that one too." She leaned over and kissed her girl. "Daddy decided to have a Vasectomy after that, he said he was perfectly happy with his perfect little girl and beautiful wife-his words-what more could he want?"

"Did you resent him for having that done?" she asked curiously.

"No. I understood his reasoning."

"How did you not blame yourself? For the miscarriages?"

"To tell you the truth, I did." She looked sad. "I thought I must not have done something right. Maybe I didn't eat the right foods; maybe I got too much exercise. Maybe, maybe, maybe. I doubted everything; your father included. Maybe he didn't want the baby enough. God knew I did, so it had to be Dan, yeah?" They both chuckled.

"So, how'd you get over it?"

"I buried myself in work and with time was able to talk about it." Emma paused. "Love, this may seem harsh but for the good of the twins, you have to let this go, you have to think about what's best for them. Their mum being so upset is bad for their development."

"I just feel so guilty." She started crying softly. Emma came around and held her. "Like you said, was there something I could have done differently? Did I not eat enough of something or eat too much? Did I not want them enough? Merlin knows I was really nervous about the pregnancy. Did that have something to do with it?" She looked up at her mum pleadingly.

"No, love. Nothing like that." She began petting Hermione's hair like she used to do when she was sick. "This isn't anybody's fault; it just is. You know I don't believe in God, what I do believe is that everything happens for a reason. Looking back on all our struggles to have you, maybe I went through that so I could help you." She shrugged. "I don't know. What I do know is that eventually the gaping hole you feel in your heart closes, little by little until it is almost full, never completely whole again but mostly."

**HP**

After talking to her mum Hermione was able to start to processing the pain she felt due to the miscarriage, she was still distant with the family and showed a distinct lack of interest in school, teaching and inventing, but she was starting to eat more and be around the family, even if she didnt interact with them. When Sarah and Jordan arrived back to the Playhouse, after class finished for the day, Hermione emerged a little from her self imposed exile, and talked to Sarah, properly for the first time since she arrived.

"Hey, Hermione." Sarah greeted as she sat down with Jordan to breastfeed.

"Hey Sarah. How's my classes going?"

Sarah's head popped up curiously. This was the first time Hermione had shown any interest in _anything_ as far as Sarah could tell. "The kids are adjusting pretty well, right now we're talking a lot about the members of the royal family who lived in the Tower and of course those who were witches or wizards. They're getting a kick out of that." She laughed. "I understand from the way the kids talk that this is the first year you've done field trips?"

Hermione laughed. "It's also the first year we've had a live history teacher in _centuries_. It was so bad that my fiancé and almost everyone else fell asleep during his lessons."

"Well, they can't stop talking of the trip to Stonehenge and are really looking forward to this next trip, although we've put it off until January." She smiled.

"Are you having any discipline problems?"

"They're pre-teens so there are some but nothing I can't handle."

"That's good."

"Hello, Hello." They heard Sirius yell.

"In the game room." Hermione called. They heard Sirius' boots clomping on the marble floored entryway.

"Hey you two." Sirius grinned at Hermione. "It's good to see you up love." He leaned down and kissed her forehead as he went towards the study to put his bag down.

As everyone came wandering in after classes, they all settled in the game room. By the time everyone was there, there were: Sirius and Jaime, Dora and Teddy, Harry and Hermione, Nev and Luna, Dan and Emma, Mark and Sarah and Jordan.

"Has this room gotten bigger since last night?" Sirius asked.

"Yes." Hermione laughed. "I heard Dobby and Mitzy commenting that if we brought any more guests to stay, they'd have to make another floor for this room." She looked at Harry, giggling. "Dobby was muttering all while they were enlarging it."

Harry and Sirius laughed as well. "Dobby?" Sirius called.

"Yes, Master Dogfather." Dobby grinned.

"Thanks for expanding the room."

"You're welcome. Mitzy wishes to know _before_ guests come to stay so she can help me get ready, please." He smiled shyly.

"Of course." Sirius smiled as Dobby popped out. "Well, I better go work on lesson plans for next week. Dan, want to play some poker tonight?"

Dan grinned. "Sure. After the kids go to bed, I'll take you to the cleaners."

"What if we want to play?" Nev asked.

Dan and Sirius grinned evilly at each other. "Sure Nev. Especially if you have your dad's _talent_." Sirius agreed.

"Did my dad play poker?" Nev asked excitedly.

"Yes. I suppose what he played was called poker." Sirius laughed, memories of teaching Frank the game pouring through his brain. "He was really bad at it. But then again, so was James. They were both too easy to read."

"Okay." Jaime got up and pushed Sirius towards the study. "We need to work." Everyone split up, including Hermione who went to work on her own homework.

There were several similarities and differences between the Playhouse and the Madhouse. First, there was no drawing room in the playhouse. Where the sitting room was at home, there was the game room. A door behind the bar led to the study. The kitchen, like in the Madhouse, was on the other side of the entryway.

The differences were really on the first floor. Yes, there were six master bedrooms. However, each had an extra bedroom like Dora's did at home plus a small study. Then there were three extra bedrooms, each with an ensuite attached.

"I love magic." Harry breathed as he looked into the new rooms again. Mione just shook her head with a smile as she went to the study and like they'd done in the past, they did their work as a pair.

Occasionally, Harry would reach for Mione's hand and kiss it, after studying for an hour or so, Hermione decided to go for a nap. At around half four a student came in to get Neville's help with Herbology.

For The Family, it was the first normal afternoon since the miscarriage, that night they made pizza and watched Snow White (one of Hermione's favorite movies).

**Sunday 29 November 1998**

While Friday saw Hermione showing some interest in life, Saturday, she slept most of the day. Consequently, Harry spent most of the day holding Hermione while she cried in her sleep.

On Sunday morning, Harry woke up earlier than most mornings, quietly he got out of bed and headed for the kitchen, rounding the corner he walked smack into Sirius, quickly Sirius grabbed his arms and steadied him, before asking. "Feel like going for a swim?"

Harry cocked his head as he thought about it. "Sure. Let me get into my suit and leave Mione a note." He headed back to his room and began getting changed, as he did this he watched Mione's frown slightly in her sleep. She was still paler than normal but it wasn't as bad as it had been. However, there was an underlying sadness about her that he was concerned about.

A few minutes later, he found Sirius in the game room, with a towel thrown over his shoulder waiting for him. As they left the Playhouse, Sirius asked. "So kiddo how are you doin'? We didn't see either of you at all yesterday, had us a little worried."

"Well, I woke up to Mione crying. So, you can imagine how the rest of the day went." He groaned. "I'm just glad Healer Axel gave her clearance to go back to classes tomorrow. She needs something to focus on, instead of laying around and just thinking, which always leads to these crying bouts. I get it of course, but it still worries me."

"How are _you_ doing though?" Sirius asked again as they got in the pool.

"Fine." Harry started doing laps then.

Sirius sighed, for some reason he couldn't get Harry to talk about the miscarriage and it was getting irritating. Sirius knew that after that first day, Harry hadn't spoken about anything except Hermione since, especially not his feelings regarding the miscarriage, he had checked, he'd even asked Mark, hoping Harry would talk to someone, but no.

That's why he'd invited Harry along this morning, hoping that getting him alone would give him time to open up about it. As he began doing his own laps, he made a promise to himself that he'd get Harry to talk to him today.

About an hour later, they got out and started walking back. "So, talk to me Harry. How're you doing with all this? I know you're not fine."

"Okay Padfoot, I'm not fine." Harry admitted. "Remember when we talked about the triplets and my being scared? "As Sirius nodded, he continued.

Sirius stopped dead and grabbed Harry by the arms with an incredulous look on his face. "Are you really blaming yourself for this because you said you thought you couldn't handle three but you could handle two?"

"Well, what am I supposed to think?"

"That it was a tragic accident that was no one's fault." Sirius said firmly.

"Then why does it hurt to even think about the baby?" He pleaded with Sirius.

"Because you loved it Harry. Hermione may have carried it but you loved it too. You are allowed to grieve it as well."

**HP**

When they got back to their quarters, everyone seemed to already be up. Harry looked around for Dora. "Where's Teddy?"

"With Mione." She smiled. "She came in to get him a little while ago."

Harry smiled back. "He'll be good medicine for her."

"That's what I thought." Emma replied as she came into the game room. "I think they were going to go into the bath."

"I'll go up and check on them." He hurried up the stairs to their room and heard Hermione singing but couldn't make out the words, so he moved closer to the door to the bathroom.

"It happened one day, as Bo-Peep did stray

into a meadow hard by,

there she espied their tails side by side,

all hung on a tree to dry."

He heard his fiancée singing in her sweet voice, he let out a deep sigh as he realised that if she was singing to Teddy, she might be feeling better. His greatest wish at that moment was that Hermione never stopped singing to any of the children, no matter how old they got.

After he got dressed for the day, he sat down and started reading a new book. When Hermione got out of the bath, she smiled at him. "Hey love." She put Teddy on their bed. "Why don't you get Teddy dressed while I get myself ready?"

"Sure. You're done with my godson then?" He grinned at his future wife.

She grinned back as she turned to her closet, dropping her robe as she looked back at him and quirked an eyebrow. "For now."

"Not fair." Harry groaned as he got off the bed. He heard her laugh evilly as he took Teddy in his arms.

At about 10 Augusta arrived for brunch, while they ate they talked some more about the war, developing more of the back story for Jamie, who was recording the entire conversation for later use, they didn't really talk about anything deep or important more filling in the holes of previous stories, describing people or events in a better way. Augusta stayed until almost 4 o'clock just talking with the family and generally basking in their laughter. It turned out to be one of the most normal days since the miscarriage happened, Harry had a hard time believing it had been only a week.

**Tuesday 1 December 1998**

Tuesday was both Hermione and Luna's light day. Luna only taught two classes and Hermione wasn't teaching any. When Luna returned to the Playhouse, she found Hermione sitting with Teddy, rocking him in the game room.

Luna ran up to her room to put her stuff away, yelling "Be right back, Mione."

Mione just laughed and looked at Teddy. "Auntie Luna makes so much noise when she runs up the stairs." Teddy just giggled as he grabbed Hermione's hair.

"So, how're you doing Mione?" Luna asked as she sat in the game room.

"Okay. Thanks to you, I turned in all my homework." She smiled. "It's funny. Homework and grades are still important to me but they aren't nearly as important as Harry or these two." She put her hand on her slightly protruding belly.

"Priorities shift." She shrugged. "My grades have lowered in importance too. After everything that happened in the war, I can't see myself worrying about my grades the way I used to." She smiled. "Besides, I have Nev to think about now."

"All I know is that I have to take care of these two. They're the most important things in the world to me now."

"You seem to be doing better these last two days." Luna commented.

"I'm still sad and it still hurts but being in classes has helped me realise that I can't close off to everyone. Like mum said yesterday, the twins need me to take care of myself, not wallow." She sighed. "I have a feeling it'll always be there but I'm hoping it won't hurt as much as time goes on."

**Wednesday 2 December 1998**

As Harry and Hermione were getting ready for bed that night, Harry commented nearly the same thing as Luna. "You seem to be doing a lot better these last few days."

"I am. I can't help feeling sad but we can't forget that we still have babies to look forward to." She smiled at her lover and best friend as she settled in bed and laid her head on his chest.

"I love you Mione. We could lose all of them and as long as I had you, I know I'd be okay." He kissed her hair as she looked up at him.

"Don't say that. I don't want to lose them. But I love you too Harry." She settled back down to his chest and promptly fell asleep.


	37. Chapter 37

**A/N Before you get started, I just wanted to say thanks for all the reviews. I really enjoy reading them. I also want to say thanks to my beta Karatekid-Ninja who is amazing at catching things I don't. Happy reading!**

**Ch. 37**

**Friday 11 December 1998**

The next week and a half went pretty smoothly for the family. Harry was trying to split his time between looking after Hermione and spending time with Teddy. As far as Harry is concerned, his morning routine with Teddy was non-negotiable, though he spent the rest of his time is with Hermione. The arrival of Sarah and Jordan changed the dynamic of the Playhouse; they were able to provide a much-needed friendship for Dora and Teddy that they were previously missing. Sarah, a young mother with a very similar in personality to Dora, found a confidant and friend in the younger women. Depending on the weather and how tired they were after classes, the two women started taking the kids on walks around either the castle or around the Black Lake, just to have time to chat and get the kids out and about.

**HP**

While Hermione was acting more like herself, she was noticeably more quiet than usual and was sleeping a lot more than previously. Dan and Emma returned home a week ago, Hermione made sure to talk to Emma at least once a day, sometimes more if the need arose. Since they started talking, everyone had noticed a remarkable difference in Hermione; it was like a weight was beginning to lift from her shoulders. Hermione found it challenging to speak about the miscarriage with anyone else, Emma knew what she was feeling having gone through the same thing, it was hard with Luna, while she could empathise having not experienced it herself made it difficult. She was too worried to talk to Harry about it, knowing she had scared him with her previous behaviour, but what scared her more was that he was so focused on her that he wasn't processing the loss himself, she didn't want to put any more weight onto his shoulders. With Hermione almost back to normal, things around the playhouse started to return to a new kind of normal, Sirius continued to worry about the two, mostly because Hermione still showed no interest in her Hobbies, such as inventing.

At breakfast that Friday the 11th, Sirius suggested, "It's Alliance weekend, and I think we should go home."

"Sounds like fun." Sarah grinned at Dora. "I've never been there."

"Well, it's not that different from here hon," Mark explained.

"Anyway, why don't we pack up after classes and go home then. Just remember we have to be back here by 4 pm on Sunday for the staff meeting." Sirius grinned at the Heads. "That means you four as well. Minnie wants to talk about next term."

"Sounds good." Dora smiled.

**HP**

That evening, they floo'd home around six, the group split up Mark and Jaime showing Sarah around the Madhouse. An hour later, while the group were making their pizzas, Dora turned to Sarah "Brianna, Susan and I are going out to lunch tomorrow in London. Wanna come with me?" she asked.

"Sure. We leaving the kids here or taking them?"

"I usually bring Teddy," Dora replied laughingly. "Brianna would kill me; I think if I didn't bring her Godson."

**HP**

When Hermione woke up the next morning, she was wrapped in Harry's arm, her head laying against his shoulder as he awoke, he squeezed her lightly around the middle.

"You feel good, love." He whispered into her hair.

"So do you." Hermione looked up at Harry and grinned seductively. "So, what do you want to do this morning?"

"What do you think? I'm male." He grinned back.

**HP**

Around 11, Sarah suggested that she and Dora go to Diagon Alley for a walk around before they met the others for lunch. They began walking through the cobblestoned streets when Sarah asked. "How are you doing with this Yule season coming up?"

"What do you mean?" Dora asked.

"I mean, you would have been spending this season as a true nuclear family if Remus hadn't died. Yet you seem to be flying past it like nothing's wrong. I know you loved him, so I'm wondering what's up?"

"I'm trying my best to focus on my teaching and Teddy. The family needs me right now, and anyway I can't grow all maudlin when Mione and Harry need me." She shrugged.

Sarah stopped and pulled Dora to a stop in the middle of the street. "Dora, that's not healthy. You need to take care of yourself, not only everyone else."

"What exactly am I supposed to do? I don't know how to grieve without breaking down and blubbering. I've always been a happy person; this is what everyone expects. And I have to be there for Sirius and Teddy." She said a little panic in her voice.

"Well, for one, you don't have to be there for everyone. Sirius has Jaime, and I know they talk a lot about Remus. Secondly, yes you have responsibilities to Teddy, but he has Brianna, your parents, Harry and Mione and they can pick up the slack if they need to." Sarah put her arm around Dora as she moved them over to the side. As she was saying this, Dora's face was getting even more stricken looking than usual. "You've got me. I'll listen any time you want to talk about Remus."

It was then that Dora burst into tears, as though she'd been holding it all in and simply couldn't anymore. She collapsed into Sarah's arms as Sarah sat them down on a bench, her head dropping to Sarah's shoulder.

Sarah just kept murmuring consolations in her ear, rubbing a hand up and down her back, keeping her tone soothing.

She heard Dora whispering, "I miss him so much. Why couldn't I go with him? Why'd he die instead of me? I don't deserve this. Teddy doesn't deserve to grow up without his Dad." Eventually, her crying became soft, hiccupped cries rather than the great wracking sobs. She looked up at Sarah. "I don't know what to do anymore." She said.

"You take it a day at a time and let yourself feel, rather than pushing it off like you have been doing," Sarah replied as Dora finally pulled herself into a sitting position. They sat on the bench for a few minutes in morose silence, slowly Dora started to pull herself together again.

Dora looked at her sheepishly. "Sorry about that." She waved at Sarah's shoulder.

She chuckled. "That's no problem. Are you feeling better?"

Dora nodded as she tried to smile. "It's amazing how much better I feel after a good cry." She waved her wand over her face to make the puffiness disappear.

"Sometimes, a cry is what you need." Sarah smiled. "Are you sure you want to go to lunch?"

"Want to? No, not really. But if I don't, I'll stay in the house all day." She grimaced.

"Okay, then let's go." Sarah hugged her. "Just remember I'm here if you need me."

"Thanks."

**HP **

That evening, the Alliance members discussed the changes in committees and what committees they were put on.

"Now, as most of you know, the Wizengamot and the Ministry have gone through an extensive reorganisation over the last six months." Sirius began, he started handing out packets of papers. "One thing we have not discussed with the heirs is how they are being handled. Here are the old and new departments and what's in each one. You'll see two brand new departments: the Department of Small Business Regulation and the Muggle Relations office. You will also see Magical Creatures has been changed to Office of Diplomacy with Magical Races. There are now Liaison offices for Goblins, Centaurs, House-Elves and Werewolves."

They all laughed when they heard Hermione's comment of "Brilliant!" as he mentioned House Elves, they all remembered SPEW.

Sirius couldn't help grinning. "There is also an Office of Budget, that all budget requests will go through before us."

"Also, we have created an oversight committee for each department, that all Wizengamot members serve on," Silas added. "There will be an oversight committee of the Minister's Office for the Wizengamot as well."

"I thought we were just handing assignments to committees, yeah?" Elaine Ogden asked.

"We decided to put forth a revamping of the ministry and the Wizengamot, young lady," Augusta informed.

"We had a meeting and talked about what we should do next, and Arthur thought this would be a good surprise for you." Sirius laughed at the kids' dumbfounded expressions. "What? We can't have ideas?"

"They think we're just old fogies who don't want change." Elphias Doge smiled.

"Well, you guys are hard to convince of things." Bill reminded them. The oldsters laughed at that.

"What's going on with our ideas about representation?" Ernie MacMillan asked.

"Nothing right now. The opposition has put it off until after Yule." Augusta apprised them only to receive groans from the heirs. Towards the end of the meeting, Augusta reminded them, "Now remember, we are hosting a Wizengamot Ball on New Year's Eve at Longbottom Estates. This is not just for our alliance; you will see members of families we don't necessarily agree with there-be polite."

**HP**

The next day was very quiet for the family; it was also the first time since the miscarriage that Harry felt comfortable enough to focus on Teddy rather than Hermione. Consequently, he spent most of the morning with Teddy on his hip (when he wasn't sleeping that is).

After lunch, they floo'd back to the Playhouse; everyone split up to do their own thing, Hermione and Luna went to the kitchen to do their Charms homework. With Harry returning to teaching this coming week, Mark offered to lighten Minerva's load by teaching transfiguration; so he dashed off to consult with Minerva as soon as they returned. The other fulltime teachers went to their offices to work on lesson plans and mark what remaining work they had from the previous week. Harry was sitting at his desk going over the lesson plans Mark had previously made making a few small adjustments to fit his teaching style better, keeping his ear on his wand in case Teddy woke up.

Nev went to his greenhouse; he was planting something no one else could pronounce. Harry had learnt not to see Nev in there unannounced after he was attacked a few weeks ago by a plant Nev was mucking around with.

**HP**

At around half three, Sirius went to find everyone so they could go to the staff room for a meeting.

"This is going to be so much fun," Hermione whispered to Harry as they walked.

He looked at her sceptically and raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"We get to talk to other teachers about what we're doing."

"I don't think she wants to talk about that. She mentioned hiring more teachers. I think that's what she's gonna want to talk about." Sirius informed her.

When they got there, it seemed everyone else was already sitting at the large table. "Welcome." Minerva smiled at how eager Hermione looked as everyone got comfortable. "Most of you know we get the names of the next class of students from the Hogwarts Book, yes?" At everyone's nod, she continued. "Well, in the next few years each class is about 180 students. Some of us have been here longer than others and we remember the numbers were about this high in between Grindelwald and Riddle. However, our teaching staff has shrunk to fit the lower number of students since the First War. Well, now we need to hire back more teachers."

"Good." Babbling sighed. "I could use the help."

"Me too." Sirius grinned. "I'm having a hard time grading all my students already; I'll need help."

"What Filius and I are proposing is hiring two more teachers for each class except Defence, Charms and Herbology. There we'll only hire one as we have assistants in those classes." She said. "We intend on making all of you Heads of your Department. We'll start advertising now, and we'll want your advice on candidates." Then she turned to Mark. "Would you be willing to stay as a full-time Transfiguration teacher so that I may be part-time? Sarah, you could stay on as a history professor."

They looked at each other, and Harry noticed them "talking" silently. "Let us talk about it, but I think so. I took a leave of absence from Winchester, so I'd have to leave officially." He sighed. "As I said, let us talk about it. I can definitely extend my leave until the end of the year."

To that, Minerva gave a rare smile. "Thank you, Mark."

Everyone laughed when they heard Jaime squeal and jump up. Mark got up quickly, recognising an excited Jaime, so that he could catch her. It was a maneuver that they had been doing since her first day of kindergarten. She jumps as fast and excitedly as she can while he tries to catch her without falling and breaking their necks. _So far, so good_. He thought as he caught his balance.

"I am assuming you four will be here next year, yes?" Minerva asked as they all settled down.

All four Heads nodded. "Yeah, we will. However, we'd like to fill you in on the Yule Dance, if that's okay?" Nev answered. As she nodded, he took a deep breath. "We would like to make it a Valentine's Day Dance."

"We've tried to get a band for this, but it seems everyone is committed through December," Luna said softly. "Knights of Avalon will be able to come on 14 February, and I was hoping to give the students that Monday off?" She smiled at Flitwick.

"I think that's a wonderful idea." Filius smiled at his favorite student.

"That sounds good to me." Minerva concurred. "I'll make the announcement this evening." She slapped her hands to her thighs. "Now, how are all of you doing with your actual classes and students."

They went around discussing how to help several of the students, which took up most of the time until dinner.

**HP**

On their way back to the Playhouse, Hermione, Jaime and Sarah were having an in-depth discussion on the history department and what they'd like to see done.

Meanwhile, Sirius had pulled Mark back to talk to him. He said in a low voice. "I'm thinking that since you and Sarah are staying here for Yule that we might have your family over for the holidays. It's not fair that your mum and dad don't see their granddaughter for her first Yule. What do you think?"

"I think that'd be a great idea but only if Hermione is okay with it." He grinned. He and Sirius had become close in the past week, and he really enjoyed some of the pranks Sirius had pulled in the time he'd been here. He recognised that concentrating on pranks was Sirius' way of dealing with the miscarriage. As Mark had never had something so tragic happen in his life, he didn't know how to help, so he was simply trying to get to know Jaime's new family.

That Jaime was going to be a part of this family for a long time was obvious to Mark. He thought some people like Augusta and Dromeda knew this was a foregone conclusion but others, such as Harry, were in the dark.

"Can we keep this a secret from Jaime? I'd like to surprise her." Sirius' eyes gleamed with mischief.

Mark grinned. "Of course."

**Tuesday 15 December 1998**

The week leading up to Yule Break was busy for the family. School was hectic because not only were three of the Heads giving exams, they were also taking their own plus looking after their other Head duties.

Tuesday morning Sirius and Harry finally went for another ride together. It was the first one-on-one time they'd had in over a week. On the way back to their quarters, Sirius asked, "How is Hermione doing?"

"Okay, I think. Sometimes it's hard to tell with her because she hides behind her books and she seems to be doing that more these days. She still cries at night, but it seems to be a release for her. Why?"

"I'm just worried about her. I want to make sure she's okay."

"Have you talked to your in-laws?" Harry smirked at the horrified look on Sirius' face.

"I've talked to Jaime's parents." He said imperiously, then in a more relaxed tone, "They said they'd be here Sunday. Speaking of next week, we have to talk to the family about Yule Rituals we'll do this week."

"Isn't Yule the same thing as Christmas?" Harry asked curiously as they walked into the kitchen. Hermione perked up and came over.

"Merlin!" Sirius groaned as he shook his head and closed his eyes for a moment. "I guess my not being there, you didn't grow up with much of our religion. We'll fix that. All you youngsters! Gran and I and anyone else that can help are going to give you a little lesson on Yule on Saturday morning." He said decisively.

The rest of the week went fine with everyone boarding the Express on Friday. Thanks to Dobby and Mitzy, the Head compartment was filled with Christmas music, eggnog, fruitcake, Christmas Pudding and Mince Pies. Again, when most of the Prefects were not on rounds, they were in the Heads' Carriage.

"This is my third year being a Prefect. None of the previous Heads served up a good meal like this. Or any meal for that matter." Blaise sighed.

"I'm glad you like it." Luna smiled as she laid her head on Nev's shoulder.

"You guys have been doing a great job this term." Nev added.

"Maybe none of the other heads did this cause they didn't have Dobby and Mitzy." Hermione suggested.

"Yeah. Dobby is amazing in the kitchen." Daphne grinned. "And his peach cobbler is terrific."

"Hey! That's Mitzy's peach cobbler!" Nev corrected as everyone laughed. Most had seen Nev inhale her cobbler at Alliance Dinners.

**HP**

When they all got back to London, Sirius, Jaime, Dora, Mark and Sarah were waiting for them. "Long time no see." Sirius ruffled Harry's hair as he came up to him.

"Yeah, you old dog." Harry grinned back as Sirius turned into Padfoot and began barking and running around.

He ran to a little girl who was around nine or ten who immediately got down on her knees to cuddle into him. "You are such a pretty boy. Don't you have an owner? If you don't, maybe we could take you home." At that Padfoot yipped and licked her face as she hugged him right back. "You're so soft."

She just kept petting him and cuddling him until a first year boy he recognised came up to the girl and said "Professor Black, I'd like you to meet my sister McKenna. McKenna, this is Professor Black."

"Blaine? You have a dog for a teacher? How cool!"

At that Padfoot turned into Sirius. "Sorry to disappoint, little love." He said as he leaned down and ruffled her hair. "But I teach potions, not my alter-ego. But when you come to Hogwarts, you'll see Padfoot around a lot."

Her eyes went wide as she looked to her brother for confirmation. "Yeah, Padfoot's around all the time." Blaine confirmed. "Come on Kenna." He turned her towards their parents. "See ya Professor Black." He threw out there as they left.

"Done being a show-off now?" Jaime sighed as she came up and wrapped her arms around him.

"Just trying to have a little fun." He grinned right back.

**HP**

When they got home, everyone began to unpack. Well, the women began to unpack, the men went to the game room. Harry lounged out on the sofa near the fireplace and watched as Mark and Sirius started playing pool.

"How are you doing, kiddo?" Sirius was pleased by his godson's relaxed posture.

"Pretty well. I know to stay out of Mione's way when she gets to packing and unpacking." He grinned.

"Luna just kicked me out." Nev added as he came up the stairs grinning. He took up the same posture as Harry on another sofa.

Harry chuckled lazily and summoned a butterbeer for his brother. "Looks like we're in charge of the children." He replied as Sirius and Mark started arguing about the dart game they'd moved on to. "Guys, don't kill yourselves with those things." He yelled at them as they glared at each other.

"We wouldn't if Padfoot would just simply admit I'm better than he is at this game." Mark complained.

"You are not! You're a bloody cheat!" Sirius reached to grab the darts.

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Sirius! Do I need to box you in the ears to get you to behave?" They all heard Hermione yell as she came up the stairs. She glared up at Sirius. "You are a respected teacher now. I expect better of you than this childish behavior. He is our guest, treat him as such."

He looked at his feet and mumbled as he handed Mark the darts, "Yes Mione."

Mione went over to him and kissed his cheek as she patted his head. "That's my good Pads." She giggled as he grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder and dumped her on Harry's lap.

Harry caught her easily because he recognised the mischief in Sirius' eyes and was ready for it. He looked down at his fiancée and smiled as she cuddled into him a bit.

She hadn't done that for a while—just cuddled. Harry had missed his Hermione and had kept hoping she would return to him. "I love you Mione." He whispered.

"I love you too." She snuggled even deeper into him.

**Saturday 19 December 1998**

The next morning, Harry woke up his favourite way. His Mione was running kisses all down his chest and her hair was tickling the same chest. "Mmmm. This is a nice way to wake up." He looked down at her.

Her beautiful chocolate eyes sparkled as she looked up at him. "Thought you'd like it." she smiled as she kissed her way up his chest to his mouth. He flipped her over and hovered over her as he kissed her deeply. "My Mione." He muttered as he stripped off her nightclothes.

**HP**

When they finally made it downstairs, they were both smiling and holding hands. Dora and Sirius looked at each other and just grinned and nodded at the pair.

"Hey, what are you planning on doing today Mione?" Luna asked.

"Well, I was thinking we might head to Shell Cottage. We need to talk about mass marketing of Monopoly at least with Fleur." Hermione smiled.

"Okay. Then maybe this afternoon you could look at the design I have for the Magical Game Boy and the first game?" She asked hopefully.

"Sure. Why not." Then she looked at her lover. "What are you up to today?" She prodded.

"I need to check in with LAR." He grinned as she ruffled his hair.

"You mean you need to see a certain redhead." Nev teased.

With a shrug and a sheepish grin, he nodded. "I'm hoping she's there."

"Well, I want to check in with some of the Allies, so I'll be out this morning as well." Sirius smiled. "We'll meet back up here for lunch?"

"Sure." Everyone agreed.

"Then I need to do some Yule shopping." Hermione grinned at the women at the table. "Wanna join?" All the women agreed at the same time the men groaned.

"Lads, our wallets will be a lot lighter tonight." Mark sighed dramatically as Dan and Sirius just laughed.

As breakfast broke up, Harry took Hermione aside, "Are you feeling up to doing all this. It seems like a lot."

She patted his arm and kissed him. "I'm fine, love. Just worried about the store. I've been avoiding it recently."

"Been a little busy, sweetheart." He reminded her playfully.

"Well, it's time to get back to my life and not dwell on what happened." She smiled at him as the two couples left from the entrance hall.

**HP**

When Harry apparated to the orphanage, he noticed that the place looked like it was lived-in. He looked over to the Quidditch pitch and saw people playing. He smiled as he noticed a few Claws from school practicing.

He walked into the front door and there was a new check-in desk in front of the stairs and a woman behind the desk. "Hello Mr. Potter. Venus said you might be coming by today. She said to let you know where Penny is. She's in the library on the second floor."

"Thank you." He smiled at her as he walked into the library and up the stairs. He found her sitting on a bay window looking out at the yard. "Hey there sweet girl." He whispered. Penny turned toward him and her face lit up.

"Harry!" she jumped at him and she landed in his stretched-out arms.

"Miss me sweet girl?" He laughed as he kissed her hair.

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" She kissed him on each cheek as she bounced in his arms.

"So, would you like to go to Gringotts with me to pick out Hermione's Yule present?" He looked down at her as she bounced in his arms again.

"Yes please!" She grinned.

"Okay. We better check you out."

A few minutes later, Penny was on his shoulders as he walked out the door and apparated to Diagon Alley. He put her on the ground and grabbed her hand. Diagon Alley was busy, like anyplace during the Yule season.

"Stay with me so you don't get lost, love." Harry smiled.

"Okay." She smiled back.

"So, what are you learning in school?" He asked her as they walked into Gringotts.

"We're learning our letters and numbers." And she was off, telling Harry all about her classes and her new friends.

When they got to the front of the line, Harry asked, "I'd like to go to my vault if it's possible?"

"Of course, Mr. Potter." The goblin nodded as he got someone to take them down.

As they got in the cart, the goblin said "You'll want to put the little girl in front of you Mr. Potter. That way she'll be safe."

"Thank you, Gorsack. Call me Harry please." He smiled at the surprised expression on Gorsack's face.

At first, as they started out, Penny held her hands over her eyes. When Harry figured this out, he pulled her hands away and wrapped his own around her waist. "Feel more secure, Penny?" He asked as she nodded and opened her eyes. As they went farther and farther down the tunnels, she screamed louder and louder. Harry could tell she was enjoying it because she was also giggling.

When they came to a stop, he helped her out. "Come on little one." He smiled as he caught her from falling over. "Dizzy much?" he grinned at her.

"That was so much fun. I wanna do it again." she grinned back as he laughed.


End file.
